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How can I recognise an AI-generated image?

18 Jun 2026

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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

What are some viral AI-generated images from 2023?

4.621 - 31.297 Joseph Chance

How can I recognise an AI-generated image? Thanks for asking. We're only a quarter of the way through 2023, and already we've seen a number of unexpected images go viral. Examples include Pope Francis wearing a white Balenciaga puffer jacket, Donald Trump being arrested at the foot of the Trump Tower in New York, and Barack Obama and Angela Merkel sharing an ice cream at the beach.

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31.617 - 51.297 Joseph Chance

So what do these viral images all have in common? Well of course they aren't real. They were all generated by AI apps, which as you may know are now able to create images based on text prompts in a matter of seconds. AI generated images are getting more and more realistic, so it's easy to understand how people get fooled.

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How can I tell fake from real then?

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55.448 - 79.515 Joseph Chance

The first thing to look for is a watermark, since certain AI apps leave one in every image they generate. For example, DALE2 from OpenAI places five coloured squares in the bottom right corner. It isn't a foolproof method though, as not all AI image apps leave a watermark, and it's pretty easy to get around. OpenAI's guidelines also say it's OK to remove the watermark,

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79.495 - 93.29 Joseph Chance

as long as you're not misleading your audience about AI being used to create the image. So you should also read the caption and comments alongside any suspicious looking images, in case the person who created them has disclosed their use of AI.

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For example, Twitter user Elliot Higgins posted, making pictures of Trump getting arrested while waiting for Trump's arrest, alongside his Trump arrest images which went viral in March.

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What about clues in the images themselves?

109.303 - 126.816 Joseph Chance

AI-generated images often look convincing at first glance, but then when you zoom in you notice some telltale details. The Pope in Balenciaga image showed the Pope with four fingers on one of his hands, while a policeman arresting Vladimir Putin in another had six fingers.

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Other common errors are asymmetry in the face, people having too many teeth, deformed or disproportional body parts and glasses blending into people's skin.

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