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AI-Generated Image Creation for Mobile App Icon

What it is for

Arts & Culture
  • Google Gemini was used to generate a graphic image that was edited and incorporated into the icon for the NYC Noise mobile app, supporting the visual design of a public-facing civic application.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report — Google Gemini (DEP)

Run by
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
No data retained
Shared with
Not stated by the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation.
Your copy
You cannot see the data it holds about you. What you can do

What it is for

Arts & Culture

The NYC Department of Environmental Protection used Google Gemini to generate an image that was edited and incorporated into the icon for the NYC Noise app. The tool was used once in 2025 under human supervision, and no personal or identifying information was collected or processed. The AI was provided only a text prompt, and the resulting image was combined with other graphics by staff to produce the final icon.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

About behaviour
Anonymized data
  • A text prompt authored by a DEP staff member was the sole input to the system. No personal, behavioural, or identifying information about any individual was submitted.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report — Google Gemini (DEP)

Processing

Language Models
  • Google Gemini is a multimodal large-scale generative AI model capable of producing images from text prompts. The free consumer version was used.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report — Google Gemini (DEP)

What it does

Creating (Generative AI)
Human decides
  • Gemini generated an image from a text prompt. The output was then reviewed, edited, and combined with other images by DEP staff before use — humans decided which generated output to keep and how to incorporate it.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report — Google Gemini (DEP)

Outputs

Generated content
Anonymized data
  • The system produced a synthetic image that was combined with other images to create the NYC Noise app icon. The output contained no personal information about any individual.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report — Google Gemini (DEP)

Run by

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
  • The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Bureau of Business Information Technology, deployed Google Gemini to support the creation of a graphic asset for the NYC Noise mobile application.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report — Google Gemini (DEP)

Built by

Google
  • Google provides Google Gemini, an off-the-shelf generative AI product. A free version was used by DEP to generate the image. Training data is proprietary to Google.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report — Google Gemini (DEP)

Kept for

No data retained
  • No identifying information was collected or disclosed. The register states: 'No identifying information is collected or disclosed.' The AI was provided only a text prompt.
  • Duration: No personal data was collected or retained; the tool was used once

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report — Google Gemini (DEP)

Shared with

Not available to me
  • No personal data about any individual was collected, so there is no individual-level data for any citizen to access. The only data submitted was a staff-authored text prompt.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report — Google Gemini (DEP)

Stored

Not stated by the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation.

How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyInformation about this system's use is publicly available through the NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report at https://data.cityofnewyork.us/City-Government/Algorithmic-Tools-Compliance-Report/jaw4-yuem. The tool was used once to generate a graphic for the NYC Noise app icon; no personal data was involved.

Risks and safeguards

  • Societal & cultural harmAI-generated imagery may embed unintended stylistic biases or reflect the aesthetic biases of the model's proprietary training data, which is not disclosed.Safeguard: The output was reviewed and edited by DEP staff before incorporation into the final app icon, and the tool was used only once in a supervised, low-stakes context.