8 Techniques To Spot AI Generated Images

AI-generated images are everywhere now. From fake social media profiles to misleading news photos, AI-generated images are flooding the internet. Powerful tools like Midjourney, DALL·E 3, Nano Banana, Google Imagen 4 and Adobe Firefly make it possible for anyone to create convincing images with just a short prompt.

Some are playful. Some are stunning. Some are designed to deceive.

In this blog, you'll learn 8 techniques to tell real from fake. Each example includes an image slider so you can reveal exactly what gives it away.

1. Look For Typos Or Nonsense Text

AI models often struggle to generate realistic text in images. That's because they don't actually understand letters or words. They only recreate what text looks like based on patterns in training data. Instead of spelling out "CAUTION," they might produce something like "CAVTIGN" because the shapes are similar.

But our brains are wired to spot even tiny mistakes in written language. Unlike faces or scenery, text has no room for error. A single warped letter or misplaced line can break the illusion instantly. So while the image might look convincing at first glance, a closer look at the text usually gives the game away.

2. Look For Bizarre Accessories

AI has no problems capturing the general look of objects, but if you look closely, you may spot details that just don't make sense. This happens because the model is blending patterns rather than understanding how accessories are designed or meant to be worn.

You might notice straps that merge or float, fabric that folds in impossible ways, or objects with warped edges and uneven shapes. Buttons may appear in odd places, or items might look half-finished or melted. When parts of the image feel confusing or physically impossible, that’s a strong clue the picture isn’t real.

3. Study The Hands And Fingers

Our hands are surprisingly complex. Each one contains 27 bones, a network of joints, tendons, and muscles that work together to create fluid movement. Fingers bend, overlap, and grip objects in ways that feel normal to us. But AI doesn't fully understand how hands should look or move. Because most AI is trained on flat images, it struggles to replicate a realistic hand structure. As a result, AI-generated images often show hands with too many fingers, missing knuckles, or stiff, awkward poses. To spot a fake, look closely at the hands. Extra digits, strange angles, or fused fingers are dead giveaways.

4. Look For Perfect Symmetry

At first glance, the image looks clean and professional. But the longer you look, the more unnatural it starts to feel. AI often creates faces that are too perfect, too symmetrical.

This happens because during training, they learn that symmetrical faces often appear in high-quality photos and are associated with beauty and realism. Instead of building each side of the face separately, it often mirrors one side to finish the job. But human faces are never perfectly symmetrical. We all have slight differences from one side to the other. If a face has perfect symmetry, this a marker of an AI generated image.

5. Examine The Teeth

Teeth are another detail that AI often gets wrong, and that's because AI doesn't actually know what teeth are. It only knows what teeth tend to look like based on patterns in a messy training dataset. The results often feel off because the AI can't apply real-world rules about anatomy, quantity, or positioning. It just guesses what seems about right.

To catch a fake, focus on the teeth. If you notice extra rows, duplicated canines, or strange spacing, it's probably not real.

6. Broken Fashion Logic

AI models don't grasp how clothing is designed or how it works. They aren't building a shirt piece by piece. They're copying patterns from millions of images and blending them together. That's why you'll sometimes see shirts with buttons that float, vanish halfway down, or show up in strange spots. The AI isn't following any logic about how clothes are constructed. It's just piecing together what looks roughly correct.

7. Look At The Eyes

AI struggles to render eyes that match. One might be slightly larger, shaped differently, or pointing in the wrong direction. Sometimes the lighting or reflections are off between them. The model isn't checking that both eyes align like they should. It's just trying to make something that looks like a face.

8. Pay Attention To Repetition

AI does not build people one at a time. It generates the entire image as a single composition, blending patterns it has seen across millions of photos. When there are multiple people in the frame, the model often reuses the same visual structure, such as faces, poses, or expressions, with only slight changes. This can make the subjects look eerily similar, like clones standing side by side.

You might notice matching head tilts, identical smiles, or arms posed at the same angle. The AI is not giving each person a unique identity or sense of movement. It is simply repeating what has worked before in similar images. The result is a group that looks copy-pasted, even if the differences are minor at first glance.

Final Thoughts

At a fundamental level, AI does not understand the scene it is generating. It has no concept of objects, relationships, or context. It works by predicting what pixels are likely to appear next based on patterns from billions of training images. Knowing this is the key to spotting AI-generated images.

It doesn't know what a hand is, so you might get six fingers and a thumb growing sideways. It doesn't understand how shirts work, so buttons end up floating in mid-air or stacked in weird places. It's not following logic. It's just throwing together bits and pieces that feel familiar. A little of this, a little of that, hope for the best. Sometimes it nails it. Other times, it's all over the shop.

However, it's important to note that AI image generation will improve. The visuals will get cleaner, and the mistakes will become harder to spot. But the core weakness remains, and that is where you come in. With a sharp eye and a bit of practice, you can spot the cracks no matter how polished the image looks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can image metadata reveal if something was made by AI?

Sometimes. Some tools include metadata tags like "Generated by AI" or embed JSON markers, but these are easy to strip or fake. Most images online are shared without metadata, so it's not a reliable detection method on its own.

Why does AI struggle with hands and accessories?

Hands are anatomically complex, and most training data doesn't capture them clearly. AI models blend visual patterns rather than understanding structure. That's why you'll often see extra fingers, stiff poses, or accessories that float or warp unnaturally.

What are common uses for AI-generated images?

They're used in marketing, art, social media content, and creative projects. But they're also used for fake profiles, scam ads, and misinformation campaigns. The intent behind the image matters just as much as the content itself.

Can AI-generated images be used for scams or deception?

Yes. Scammers use them to create fake people, fake companies, and fake stories. These images can make social media bots more convincing or support false claims with fabricated evidence. The risk grows as image quality improves.

Will AI ever stop making these kinds of mistakes?

Visual quality will keep improving, but the core issue remains. AI doesn’t understand context, anatomy, or logic. It generates what looks right, not what is right. These subtle disconnects will always create small clues that humans can learn to spot.