By: Shawn  Wang

An AI generated image of Katy Perry attending the Met Gala went viral. This image shocked 16 million viewers and left many people unsure of whether or not it was AI-generated. However, the post was quickly debunked with confirmation that she did not attend the 2024 Met Gala, therefore this image was indeed Ai generated. It can be easy to be fooled by these AI images. So here are three simple ways to detect if an image is AI or not.

The quality of AI generated pictures just keeps getting better, but there are still many flaws and giveaways. AI programs often struggle with generating images with scenes not often seen. While an image is mostly realistic, if you look at some details, they may be a little lopsided and wonky.

However, if an image is too perfect, this can also be a giveaway that the image is AI. AI generated images usually lack the details found in actual pictures. Pictures of humans don’t have any sort of texture in the face and skin, giving an overly smooth and crisp, ‘airbrushed’ result. Another giveaway can be a picture with a perfect background. AI images usually have a fantasy, dream-like background. If the background of an image is too perfect, that’s a clue that something isn’t quite right.

If you look at the close details, and everything seems fine but you’re still unsure, you can do a reverse image search. This will help you find out where else this photo appears online. Ai generated photos are less often found on other social media platforms like how real pictures are. This mean they will show up less if you do a reverse image search. A reverse search can also lead you to the original source of the picture. This will allow you to see if it’s from a trusted source or not.

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