{"id":1167043,"date":"2026-04-15T02:33:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T09:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-project&p=1167043"},"modified":"2026-04-16T08:37:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:37:52","slug":"project-provenance","status":"publish","type":"msr-project","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/project-provenance\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Provenance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\"diagram,\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n

Project Provenance<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Empowering everyone to understand digital content provenance through human-centric design<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n

“Generative AI is blurring the boundary between authentic and synthetic media. Without accessible, human-centered provenance tools, we risk drifting into a post-epistemic world where fact and fiction cannot be reliably distinguished.”<\/p>\nEric Horvitz, Microsoft Chief Scientific Officer<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Advances in generative AI are accelerating the creation of highly realistic synthetic content, blurring the boundary between what is real and what is fabricated. As this content spreads across the web and into everyday discourse, the ability to understand where information comes from\u2014and how it has been altered\u2014has never been more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Provenance focuses on a critical, underexplored challenge: how people understand and use signals about the origin and history of digital content. We place end-user understanding at the center, exploring through human-centered design and empirical study how provenance information can be made more accessible, meaningful, and actionable in real-world settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft has been a leader in developing provenance technologies and in co-founding the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> (C2PA), a cross-industry effort to establish global standards for content authenticity. Yet even as technical approaches, such as cryptographic provenance and watermarking, advance, their impact depends on how effectively people can interpret and act on these signals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By bridging technical innovation with human experience, Project Provenance aims to strengthen trust in digital media and empower people to better assess the content they encounter every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project is centered at Microsoft Research Cambridge<\/a>, with collaborators across the Office of the Chief Scientific Officer, Microsoft Research in Redmond<\/a>, and other teams at Microsoft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Illustrative<\/figure>
\n

A new study explores how AI shapes what you can trust online<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A Microsoft report outlines how combining provenance, watermarking, and digital fingerprinting can strengthen trust in digital media as AI-generated content becomes harder to verify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Read the article<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Emblems for Crafted and Co-Created Content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As generative AI becomes part of everyday creation, people may wish to express how their writing, crafts, and work came into being. Some will want to affirm that their words, art, and ideas were shaped entirely through human effort, from first spark to polish to final finish. Others may choose to acknowledge the role of AI as a collaborator in their creative process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve created two emblems to support this transparency. Each provides a simple, visually distinctive way to signal how a piece of content was crafted, whether fully human-authored or developed through human\u2013AI collaboration. These were hand sketched and fully human crafted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Download the icons<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
\"100%<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Related Prior Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tProject<\/span>\n\t\t\tProject Origin<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPublication<\/span>\n\t\t\tDesigning Media Provenance Indicators to Combat Fake Media<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPublication<\/span>\n\t\t\tAMP: Authentication of Media via Provenance<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLINKEDIN ARTICLE<\/span>\n\t\t\tA Milestone Reached<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tlinkedin article<\/span>\n\t\t\tBetter Together: Joining Forces on Digital Media Provenance<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tlinkedin article<\/span>\n\t\t\tProtecting Scientific Integrity in an Age of Generative AI<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

We are excited to collaborate with the below Fellows as part of the Microsoft Research Fellowship<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Designing Provenance Tools That Help People Understand AI-Modified Media<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"2026<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dilrukshi Gamage (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/strong>
Fellow
Assistant Professor, University of Colombo School of Computing
Sri Lanka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Labeling Across the Continuum of AI Involvement and the Provenance of Provenance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"2026<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

David G. Rand (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/strong>
Fellowship Advisor
Professor, Cornell University
United States<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"2026<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Gabrielle Peloquin-Skulski (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/strong>
Fellow
PhD Student, MIT
United States<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Empowering everyone to understand digital content provenance through human-centric design “Generative AI is blurring the boundary between authentic and synthetic media. Without accessible, human-centered provenance tools, we risk drifting into a post-epistemic world where fact and fiction cannot be reliably distinguished.” Advances in generative AI are accelerating the creation of highly realistic synthetic content, blurring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1167210,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","footnotes":""},"research-area":[13556,13554],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-impact-theme":[],"msr-pillar":[],"class_list":["post-1167043","msr-project","type-msr-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","msr-research-area-artificial-intelligence","msr-research-area-human-computer-interaction","msr-locale-en_us","msr-archive-status-active"],"msr_project_start":"","related-publications":[],"related-downloads":[],"related-videos":[],"related-groups":[],"related-events":[],"related-opportunities":[],"related-posts":[],"related-articles":[],"tab-content":[],"related-researchers":[{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Neeltje Berger","user_id":36801,"people_section":"Team","alias":"neberger"},{"type":"guest","display_name":"Jingya Chen","user_id":767776,"people_section":"Team","alias":""},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Pratik Ghosh","user_id":38245,"people_section":"Team","alias":"prghos"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Eric Horvitz","user_id":32033,"people_section":"Team","alias":"horvitz"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Andrew Jenks","user_id":42177,"people_section":"Team","alias":"ajenks"},{"type":"guest","display_name":"Viktor Kewenig","user_id":1146458,"people_section":"Team","alias":""},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Clare Morgan","user_id":37625,"people_section":"Team","alias":"clmorgan"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Abigail Sellen","user_id":31112,"people_section":"Team","alias":"asellen"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Jessica Young","user_id":43761,"people_section":"Team","alias":"jessicayoung"}],"msr_research_lab":[199561],"msr_impact_theme":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/1167043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/msr-project"}],"version-history":[{"count":62,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/1167043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1169710,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/1167043\/revisions\/1169710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1167210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1167043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"msr-research-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-area?post=1167043"},{"taxonomy":"msr-locale","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-locale?post=1167043"},{"taxonomy":"msr-impact-theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-impact-theme?post=1167043"},{"taxonomy":"msr-pillar","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-pillar?post=1167043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}