This prototype camera is fighting the good fight against AI photography

If video killed the radio star, then AI slop returned the favor. At least, that is what Josh Cowell, founder of camera maker CAIM1, will tell you. Short for Counter Artificial Intelligence Machine 1, the startup is working to reestablish our collective faith in the validity of images through its latest prototype: a camera that embeds cryptographic proof of a photo's authenticity directly into the image. As Cowell described in a blog post by the startup's silicon chip provider, Tropic Square, the traditional photograph is dead, and designing a secure camera to replace it is an exercise in healthy paranoia. When you take a photo using its prototype, CAIM1's internal chip creates a unique silicon fingerprint that certifies when, where, and with which camera the photo was taken.