By: Wesley Zhao

With AI becoming more and more mainstream, it could cause serious damage to social media. Recently, AI generated a picture of Katy Perry attending the 2024 Met Gala on X. It got over 16 million views, but some comments said that it was made using AI.

Katy Perry didn’t attend the Gala this year, and people noticed that the carpet in the picture was from the 2018 Gala.

It is hard to spot AI pictures because of their new levels of realism, which makes it very hard to see if it they are real or not. There are 3 ways to spot if the picture is made from AI or not.

The first trick is to focus on details. Although AI is always improving, there will be giveaways. You could check the words on signs and shirts if they have any to see if it’s gibberish. Also look at body parts. Some of them might be in the wrong way.

The second method is “being wary of perfection”. AI might generate a perfect picture, which goes beyond what’s possible. If the location looks like it isn’t right, it’s most likely fake. If the appearance is very smooth, it might also be fake.

Lastly, do a reverse image search. This will identify other places on the internet where the photo exists. Usually, AI photos will appear in fewer places than the real ones and will be less frequent.

AI might be good at some things, but they can’t outsmart humans with their photography, at least not for now.