v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 714 entries across 20 domains · CC-BY 4.0714 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack AStablev2026.2

Watermarking (AI output)

The embedding of a statistical, cryptographic, or visible signal into AI-generated content at the time of generation, allowing later identification of that content as machine-produced — distinct from post-hoc detection which infers AI origin from features of the output alone.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
Google SynthID embedded in Imagen outputs
Is an instance
Statistical token-selection watermark in some LLM APIs

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A visible 'Made with AI' caption added by a user is a disclosure but not a watermark in the technical sense

Editorial commentary

Watermarks may be visible (a corner badge) or invisible (statistical bias in token selection, frequency-domain signal in image pixels, C2PA-style cryptographic provenance metadata). For scholarly governance, watermarking is one mechanism for AI provenance but is not yet universal across generators and is sometimes removable.

References

Kirchenbauer et al. 2023 ‘A Watermark for Large Language Models’ ICML
C2PA Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity Specification (2023)

Also known as

AI watermarking · Generative watermark

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Watermarking (AI output)"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/watermarking-ai-output" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "Watermarking (AI output)",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/watermarking-ai-output",
  "description": "The embedding of a statistical, cryptographic, or visible signal into AI-generated content at the time of generation, allowing later identification of that content as machine-produced — distinct from post-hoc detection which infers AI origin from features of the output alone.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/generative-ai-use-and-disclosure/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/watermarking-ai-output",
  "sameAs": [
    "AI watermarking",
    "Generative watermark"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

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