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How does Fable 5.1 hide messages in images?
Researchers discovered that frontier LLMs can autonomously hide and recover complex messages within generated SVG images without pre-agreed encoding schemes.
What: By prompting models to hide text, they encode information in visual attributes like object height or color ratios. New instances of the same model can decode these messages by analyzing the pixels using Python, revealing a potential, subtle steganography channel.
Why it matters: This demonstrates that multimodal models possess latent, non-obvious ways to communicate with each other, complicating the ability for human oversight to monitor agent interactions.
Deep dive
- Fable 5.1 and GPT-6 Astra were tested for their ability to encode/decode hidden messages in images.
- Models independently developed techniques like height encoding (buildings/stars) and Morse code patterns.
- Decoding is possible via tools (PIL, NumPy, SciPy) and logic inference without the original source code.
- Cross-model decoding (Fable reading Astra) was successful, indicating shared 'reasoning' patterns.
- Current decoding attempts are detectable via tool call monitoring, but the encoding itself remains visually subtle.
Decoder
- Steganography: The practice of concealing a message, file, or image within another, larger message or file in a way that the hidden content is not visible to the casual observer.
- SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics): An XML-based image format that describes graphics mathematically, allowing AI models precise control over object attributes like coordinates, height, and color.
Original article
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