AI Image Spotter

A 9-question checklist to tell if a photo is AI-generated. Open the image, walk through the questions, see your verdict.

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Walk through the checks above. Even one flag is worth pausing on.

Tap each check that the image fails

Do hands look right? (count fingers, look at fingernails)

Body parts

AI image generators famously struggle with hands. Six fingers, fused fingers, fingernails growing the wrong way — all big tells. Look closely.

Do the eyes look symmetrical and reflect the same light?

Body parts

Real eyes catch the same light source. AI eyes often have mismatched reflections, different-shaped pupils, or asymmetric eyebrows. Earrings often only appear on one ear.

Do teeth look natural — not too many, not too even?

Body parts

AI mouths often have extra teeth, teeth that blend together, or impossibly perfect rows. Real smiles have small irregularities.

Is any text in the image (signs, labels, books) actually readable?

Background

AI is bad at written text. Background signs, book covers, t-shirt logos often look like a foreign alphabet on close inspection. If text is gibberish, the image is almost certainly AI.

Does the background hold up to a close look?

Background

Zoom in on the edges and the back of the photo. AI backgrounds often have melting buildings, fences with random gaps, lampposts attached to nothing, or people whose legs do not connect to bodies.

Do shadows fall in a sensible direction from a single light source?

Lighting

Real photos have shadows that all point away from one sun or light. AI shadows often go in different directions, or are missing entirely. Check shadows under the chin and the nose first.

Does the skin look slightly plastic, too smooth, or waxy?

Skin & texture

Almost every AI portrait has a faint "doll-like" smoothness. Pores, freckles, and small imperfections look airbrushed away. By itself this is not proof, but combined with other signs it is a strong tell.

Is the photo the only source for a big claim?

Context

A photo of a famous person doing something shocking — that no news outlet has reported — is a red flag. Real news has multiple photos, video, and reporters. A single viral image is a low-cost way to lie.

Have you done a reverse image search?

Context

Right-click → "Search Image with Google" (on a computer). Or save the image and upload it to images.google.com. If it appears on AI image-generator galleries, that is your answer. If it has no history at all, also suspicious.

The single best move: reverse image search

On a computer: right-click the image → "Search Image with Google". On a phone: long-press the image → "Search Google for this image". If it shows up on AI-art galleries, on debunk sites, or on no real news outlets, you have your answer in 30 seconds.

images.google.com

When in doubt, do not share

AI fakes spread because real people forward them in good faith. If you cannot verify a viral image with a reputable source, the kindest move is to not pass it along. That alone breaks most disinformation chains.

Deepfake Defense Hub

Bigger picture on AI fakes (video, voice).

Scam Message Decoder

For text and email scams.

Fake News Checker

Spot misleading articles.

Quick Tip: AI-image tells get harder every year. The reverse-image-search step works regardless of how realistic the fake gets.