SafetyResponsible AI Updated 2026

Watermarking

Definition

Embedding a hidden, statistically detectable signal in AI-generated text so it can later be identified as machine-produced.

Kirchenbauer et al. (2023) proposed a watermark for language-model text: before each token is generated, a pseudo-random set of "green" tokens is favoured slightly during sampling. The bias is invisible to readers but statistically detectable from a short span of text, without access to the model — letting downstream tools flag likely AI-generated content.

Watermarking is one technical approach to provenance and misuse detection, with ongoing debate about robustness to paraphrasing.

References

Primary, peer-reviewed and archival sources for this definition.

A Watermark for Large Language Models
Kirchenbauer, J., Geiping, J., Wen, Y., Katz, J., Miers, I., & Goldstein, T. (2023). Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2023).

Dictionary & encyclopedic entries

Cite this entry

MultipleChat. "Watermarking." MultipleChat AI & LLM Glossary, 2026. https://multiple.chat/ai-glossary/watermarking

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