AI-generated images can look real. It’s sometimes hard to tell fakery from reality.
These tips will help you become an AI detective. Read this list, and then test your skills in our original Explore It! quiz. Find it at Spot the AI.
- How many fingers is that?
Sometimes little details are too much for AI. You can quickly spot a fake by looking for folks with too many fingers. Look for other tiny details. Do the lenses of those glasses match? Is that necklace hanging by half a chain? But be careful. Most deepfakes have grown beyond such simple mistakes. - A little too shiny?
Real people don’t have perfect skin. We have freckles, pores, and wrinkles. AI images often look strangely smooth. They might seem over-polished.
- Faces, faces
Deepfakes often use face-swapping. They paste a different face on someone else’s body. Study the edges of the face. Does the skin tone match the rest of the body? Do any details look blurry? - Think about it.
Stop and think. Does this picture make sense? One famous AI-generated image shows the Pope in a luxury puffer jacket. It looks realistic. But would the Pope wear a fluffy coat in public? If he did, wouldn’t other photos show it? Common sense can help you spot fakes. - Fight AI with AI.
Companies like Microsoft and Intel have built AI tools to spot AI. The human eye can’t always tell a deepfake. AI can catch some details we miss.
AI gets better every day. These tips can help you now. But experts say they might be out of date by next year!
