How to tell if images are AI-generated: AI image detection tips

The impact of AI images

AI-generated images have the potential to lead to consequences such as spreading false information to trick or manipulate their audience. With just a few lines, users can easily create images that appear realistic. This can include everything from a beautiful sunset to a specific individual caught in a compromising position (also known as deepfakes). Nefarious uses of fake images include blackmail and extortion—as well as online crimes like phishing or financial scams.

When you’re unsure if an image was created by an artist or taken by a photographer, it can pay to do some additional work to detect AI images or ensure veracity. This can help you avoid legal issues that can arise with AI.

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How to detect AI images

In an ideal world, those posting online will adhere to ethical standards and disclose that their images were created by AI—and in fact, many social media platforms are working on ways to detect and generate these disclaimers automatically.

If you’re asking, “Is this image AI?” there are a few techniques that you can use to avoid getting duped or manipulated:

Pay attention to distortions

AI-generated images can still have limitations, especially when pertaining to fine details. Look for extra hands, fingers, or limbs in a photo of people, for example, or blurred faces in both people and animals. Close attention to details and distortions is essential to AI image detection.

Look for a watermark

Some generative AI tools automatically generate a watermark in the lower corner of an image, faintly in the background, or invisibly embedded within the image’s code. Detect AI images by checking these three areas.

Check the image’s description

Online images often include metadata such as when they were created, their file format, and the tools used to create or modify them. Digital photographs may also include additional information such as the make and model of the camera used and the camera settings. This information helps identify the image’s original source. Many AI images provide metadata that may even list the AI tool used—another great way to tell if an image is AI-generated.

Use an AI image detection tool

Similarly, AI detection tools can extract watermarks and metadata from uploaded images to determine whether a piece of media is from a genuine source or created by a prompt.

As AI-generated images proliferate across the internet, it’s not always easy to gauge the intentions behind their human creators. This is why it’s so important to know how to tell if a photo is AI-generated. Avoid the potential for disinformation that AI-generated content might create while still using the power of everyday AI tools to fit your own needs.