The Challenges of Integrating AI Image Generators into Google Earth

Now, with just a text prompt, you can create mind-bending images using Google Earth’s satellite, aerial, and 3D visuals. For instance, Henk van Ess from Digital Digging has generated images depicting “refugees near the Mexican border” and a bomb crater close to a hospital in Gaza.

In response to these AI-generated images, Google emphasized its commitment to combating misinformation, stating, “We take misinformation seriously – every image created with Nano Banana in Google Earth includes the SynthID digital watermark. If someone is uncertain about an image, they can use the Gemini app or Lens in Search to verify if it was AI-generated.” Alongside using Google’s “@verifyai” tag in Gemini for suspicious images, van Ess recommends cross-referencing with other satellite services like Sentinel-2 or Landsat, and checking orbital data for details like the capture date and satellite used.

This feature was rolled out globally on the web version of Google Earth recently, and Google’s announcement highlights its potential for visualizing historical sites and real estate developments. While some images, like a mashup of the Sphinx and the Statue of Liberty, are clearly fake, the Nano Banana 2 feature could easily produce convincing images that might mislead viewers. Although Google’s watermark is designed to be hard to remove, it’s not foolproof; Digital Digging managed to trick Hive’s AI detector with an AI-altered video sourced from Google Earth.