Since Meta began tagging photos with "artificial intelligence" in May, photographers have complained that the social network has added tags to real photos using some basic editing tools.

Due to user feedback and general confusion about the level of AI used in photos, the company is changing the label on all Meta apps to "AI information". Meta said the previous version of the tag was not clear enough for users to indicate that a tagged image was not necessarily created using AI, but may have used AI-powered tools in the editing process.

“Like others across the industry, we found that our labels based on these metrics didn't always meet people's expectations and didn't always provide enough context. For example, some content that included minor modifications using AI, such as retouching tools, included industry standard indicators that were then labeled ‘Made with AI’,” the company said in an updated blog post.

The company is not changing the underlying technology for detecting use of AI in photos and labeling them. Meta still uses information from technical metadata standards such as C2PA and IPTC, which include information about the use of AI tools.

This means that if photographers use tools like Adobe's Generative AI Fill to remove objects, their images may still be tagged with the new label. However, Meta hopes the new tags will help people understand that tagged images aren't always created entirely by artificial intelligence.

Met spokeswoman Kate McLaughlin said: “AI News can cover content produced and/or modified by artificial intelligence, so hopefully it will be more in line with people's expectations as we work with companies across the industry to improve processes. And it doesn't tell the user how much AI editing was done on the image.

Meta and other social networks need to work on setting guidelines so they're not unfair to photographers who haven't changed their editing workflows, but the tools they use to retouch images have an element of generative artificial intelligence. On the other hand, companies like Adobe must warn photographers that using a certain tool may get their photos tagged on other services.