Is This Image AI? 10 Real Signs Explained
"Is this image AI-generated?" is rarely answered by a single clue. Detection works by stacking weak signals until the picture is convincing one way or the other. Below are the ten most common cases, what each one looks like in practice and what it does (and does not) prove.
1. The file says so in its metadata
Some generators label their output. Midjourney writes the IPTC Digital Source Type value trainedAlgorithmicMedia, and tools from Adobe, Microsoft and OpenAI add Content Credentials. If the original file contains one of these, it is the strongest evidence you can get. Drop it into the AI image detector to read it.
2. Stable Diffusion or ComfyUI parameters are embedded
Images saved straight from Stable Diffusion front ends often keep a text block holding the prompt, seed, sampler and model name, and ComfyUI can store the whole node workflow. Finding these is close to definitive. See the Stable Diffusion PNG info viewer and the ComfyUI checker.
3. Hands, teeth and jewellery do not add up
Older and cheaper models still stumble on fine structure: extra or fused fingers, teeth that merge, earrings that differ left to right, glasses frames that dissolve into skin. Newer models are much better, so a clean hand proves nothing.
4. Text in the image is garbled
Shop signs, book spines, licence plates and T-shirt slogans often contain letters that look right from a distance but spell nothing. Recent models render short text well, but long paragraphs and small print are still a common giveaway.
5. Lighting is too perfect
Generated images often have a cinematic key light, a clean rim light and no real shadows from a second source. Ask where every shadow falls. Real scenes contain messy, inconsistent light.
6. The background does not make sense
Look past the subject. Staircases that lead nowhere, railings that change thickness, crowds of faces that blur into each other and repeated patterns are all signs that the model was painting texture rather than a place.
7. Skin and surfaces look airbrushed
Very smooth skin, no pores, identical freckles and plastic-looking fabric are typical. Beauty filters cause the same effect, so treat this as a hint only.
8. No camera data at all
A real photo from a phone or camera usually carries EXIF data such as make, model, lens and exposure. A picture with none is not proof of AI (social networks strip it), but combined with other signs it shifts the odds.
9. A reverse image search finds nothing
Photos of real events usually exist somewhere else: a news site, an agency or the original poster. If a dramatic image appears only in one social post and nowhere else, be careful.
10. Everything seems fine
This is the hardest case. A modern model, a screenshot and a re-upload can leave no trace at all. Our detector then reports inconclusive, not a made-up percentage, and so should any tool you use.
A simple checklist
- Find the original file, not a screenshot.
- Run it through a metadata check.
- Look at hands, text, shadows and background.
- Reverse-search the image and check who posted it first.
- Decide how much weight the claim deserves. Do not rely on one tool or one clue.
For Google-made images also try SynthID Detector, and remember that it cannot see Midjourney or FLUX.