Lately, there’s been a big debate around AI-generated art and its place in the art world. But we’re not here to argue about that.
Our goal is to help you get better at spotting AI art, no matter why you want to learn this or which AI tool created the artwork, whether it’s DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, Flux, or something else.
We’ll point out the key signs and characteristics to watch for. With enough practice, being able to identify AI art will become almost instinctive.
Interested? Let’s get started.
Spotting AI art is similar to identifying AI images, but there are subtle differences to look for.
Thus, in our experience, there are two main ways to spot AI-generated art.
Let’s start with the first one.
AI lacks human understanding of depth, perspective, and coherent composition. Overloading images with excessive detail on objects is AI’s attempt to hide this inability.
When analyzing an image, you can approach the task with varying levels of detail, depending on your time constraints and the required level of confidence.
Here are some options:
Art without human figures can be a bit trickier to identify as AI-generated. However, there are still several key elements you can look for:
1. Gibberish Text
Text is often a big giveaway for AI art. A garbled signature attempting to imitate an actual signature, or words in the image that make no sense in any language, should raise red flags.
2. Unusual Compositions
AI can place related objects, but can’t logically connect them like paths leading nowhere, inaccessible buildings, and scenes defying commonsense.
3. Lighting Mistakes
Things like shadows being cast incorrectly, shadows appearing out of nowhere with no light source, lights shining from places that make no sense, or shadows that look deformed and distorted.
4. Waxy Look
AI-generated realistic art often displays an artificial waxy glossiness (smoothness) and lacks natural texture variations.
5. Messy Patterns
Look out for messed up patterns in images with woodcarving, metalwork, needlework, or knitting – instead of clear, recognizable designs, the patterns often become a jumbled mess.
6. Strange Liquids
If liquids are present, they frequently appear thick, viscous, and unappealing rather than having a realistic fluid appearance and motion.
If there are people in the artwork, this simplifies the detection process.
Start by reviewing the points from the previous “art without people” section, and additionally check for a few key details:
1. Generic Poses
The people in the picture often have generic poses and lack expression. Conversely, if they’re prompted to be more expressive, it can come across as overdone.
2. Weird Eyes
The eyes may appear lifeless, facing directly at the viewer, with pupils often misaligned and an unnatural shape.
3. Odd-Looking Background Crowds
Images with crowds are some of the easiest AI fakes to spot. The AI gets people’s faces and bodies deformed, with extra limbs (and fingers – yes still in 2024) or people blending into the background.
Most likely, you came across the artwork you’re analyzing on a particular account. Here’s what to look for beyond the image itself:
1. Check the Title, Description, or Tags: If it’s a legitimate AI artist, they will likely disclose whether the image was AI-generated. This may seem obvious, but it can be very effective.
2. General Account Metrics: How old is the account, and how many images do they have? If they post too frequently, it should raise suspicion, as even full-time professional artists typically need a few days to create new artwork.
3. Lack of Personality: If the account or posts lack personality, a professional portfolio website, or storytelling, it could be a red flag. Most artists have websites for job applications.
4. Reverse Image Search: If the author isn’t credited and the art varies in each post, use reverse image search (Google Images, TinEye) to find the original poster and check their comments.
Identifying AI-generated art can be challenging as AI technology improves. However, careful analysis of the artwork and its background can still yield accurate results.
If you’re short on time, consider using a sophisticated AI image detector.
For a more thorough approach, look for signs such as nonsensical text, unusual compositions, lighting mistakes, and unnatural depictions of liquids. In images with human figures, check for simplistic poses and lifeless eyes.
Additional clues can be obtained by examining the source of the image, including its title, description, tags, and by conducting a reverse image search.
Happy detecting!