November 16, 2024

How To Spot AI Generated Photos

Arts & Culture The Journal 2024

How To Spot AI Generated Photos

By: Ellie Zhang 1

Technology has improved drastically over the past couple of years. Many are getting fooled by AI generated images; for instance, the viral Katy Perry Met Gala photo:


It may look real, but it’s actually AI generated. The levels of realism that AI and deepfakes can achieve are getting more advanced, but there are still ways to spot the falsity.

Like the photo of Ryan Reynolds, hands and fingers are a massive clue at whether or not an image is real. Already, hands are difficult to draw in 3-dimensions. AI often struggles with this, by adding too many fingers or with fingers that blend in with others.

If you take a closer look at this AI-generated photo of Ryan Reynolds, you can see that his right hand is unnaturally shaped, giving it away. If that’s not enough, his F1 jacket is full of complete gibberish!

Look at the picture above. It seems normal, but look at the signs and see if you can read the words. Again, it’s completely gibberish! Also, the skyscraper in the back is clearly out of place.

Like the photo of Ryan Reynolds, hands and fingers are a massive clue at whether or not an image is real. Already, hands are difficult to draw in 3-

Another way of identifying an AI generated photo is if it’s a little too perfect.

AI achieves more accuracy when generating celebrities. The image shows the popstar, Ariana Grande, who is really easy to identify.

But there is something about her skin: It lacks any sort of texture, giving it an ‘airbrushed’ look. Ariana’s face is glossy and smooth, showing no skin-like texture.

Being able to spot these imperfections just proves that AI has a long way to go.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z6s4239

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-technology/how-spot-ai-fakes-now

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