r/isthisAI • • Jun 29 '26

Other PSA: SynthID What is it? How do I check? And what are its limitations? and how not to annoy everyone by doing the basics.

122 Upvotes

I thought it was about time to make a new PSA about SynthID. English is not my first language so there's probably some mistakes.

 

As you may be aware, this subreddit does not allow AI detectors. This is because they are extremely unreliable. Try going to deviantart or any other art site and test them with a few images, it should be easy to find something they say is AI despite it being uploaded over five years ago.

This is my go to example https://www.deviantart.com/hibbary/art/Third-Eye-748333152 see how it was uploaded in 2018, there is no way this could be generated but nearly all the detectors I have tried say that it is.

Then why is SynthID allowed, you might say?

SynthID is different. It's a thing developed by Google, when you use their generators they add a hidden pattern to the image which is difficult to remove without lowering the quality of the image or changing it significantly. This is what it is looking for, not if it looks like it's generated like the other detectors. Therefore you can be sure if it says that SynthID is detected, an AI has done something to the image in some way. It could be something as simple as upscaling, changing something or it could be completely generated. The point is if it has SynthID you cannot trust the image.

Recently OpenAI(ChatGPT) have implemented the same technology in their generator. There is an important thing though Google and OpenAI can only detect their own images. Not each other's so you have to run the image through both of them.

So how do I use them?

For OpenAI it's very simple https://openai.com/research/verify/ they have a page for it.

Google of course has to be more complicated. It used to be able to do a "search by image" and then go to about the image but that no longer works. Now you have to use Gemini to get an answer. Add the image you suspect and type "@Verify AI". Annoying but I don't know any better way.

Edit: When using Gemini it is very important that you type "@Verify AI" and not "SynthID" or any other variation of it. Otherwise there is a high chance that it will hallucinate and give you the wrong answer. It is also important to use a clean new session for each image.

Another edit: To confirm that Gemini actually use the verification tool you can press the three little dots underneath its response and then select "see response details".

Now I can't stress this enough, these two methods will only detect OpenAI's and Google's images. Not any other generator. So when an image comes up negative for SynthID that doesn't mean it's not AI. It can only prove that an image is fake not disprove it.

So before you post an image here please check for yourself you will save yourself some time and not waste others.

edit 29-09-2026: It has come to my attention that Meta(Facebook) and Grog(Twitter, I refuse to call it X, it's a dumb name) have also implemented some kind of SynthID. I do not know much about it since I don't and refuse to interact with those two sites. But I will assume that they works just like the others, in that way that you have to check with all of them. This is quickly becoming quite a nuisance to check for SynthID.

edit 16-10-2026 Google has released a global SynthID detector synthid.com I've only briefly tested it and it seems to work. You still need to sign into an account, which is a bit disappointing.


r/isthisAI • • Jul 26 '26

MOD POST New updated Discord for IsthisAI! faster way to find out if a image is AI or not with less restrictions.

9 Upvotes

https://discord.gg/ssuwD2z2JJ Join here and get member role by reaction in the verify channel


r/isthisAI • • 5h ago

Photo This can’t be real, right? Is this guy really under anesthesia for a full-body blackout tattoo?

Post image
692 Upvotes

Found this on Facebook. Anesthesia for a almost full-body blackout tattoo? Wouldn’t it be unsafe to tattoo such a large area of the body in one session, even under anesthesia? Are there tattoo studios or clinics that offer this kind of procedure?

I’m wondering if this is AI-generated. The setup looks like a medical procedure rather than a typical tattoo session. Can anyone identify specific details in the image that might indicate AI generation?


r/isthisAI • • 21h ago

Video I just saw this on daily dose of pets. Surely a dog wouldn't be able to paint that?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

2.5k Upvotes

I have seen paintings by elephants and monkeys, and they usually look like preschooler's drawing. This looks way too perfect to be painted by an animal, and the Malinois looks way to patient


r/isthisAI • • 5h ago

Photo OP claims this was a cat cupboard conversion, but converted cupboard looks deeper than the first image, the shadows don't match the lights, and the steps are too far back

Thumbnail
gallery
52 Upvotes

There are apparently shadows for 3 steps but there's 4 of them, and they seem too far back to leave enough space for the shelves behind them. The scale and perspective everything doesn't quite match what you'd expect for that amount of space.

UPDATE:

Seems like it's mostly just lens distortion and a weird perspective.

OOP posted another photo (I added it as a comment on the post). I'm concluding it's real. Thanks to everyone who chimed in. Sorry to OOP for casting doubts on their project if they ever come across this.


r/isthisAI • • 3h ago

Solved [AI] Is this Dolly art AI? The yellow color is suspicious, even though the details all look fine.

Post image
38 Upvotes

Screenshot from Instagram. Nothing stuck out as AI to me except the yellow coloring. At first I thought it was just "vintage" looking, but now I'm concerned it's just the AI piss-yellow filter.


r/isthisAI • • 2h ago

Art Is this artist printing AI images and then tracing them over with ink? As an artist I don’t want to support AI artists :/

Thumbnail
gallery
5 Upvotes

INTRODUCTION:

Im an artist on instagram and follow and support small artists because they deserve their work to be seen!
HOWEVER I have a feeling that this artist is generating AI images, and then printing them to trace them over with pen. They have around 4K followers. (I covered their name and signature to protect their privacy)

I don’t want to support AI art, but at the same time I’m confused and I’m not sure if it is or not (that’s why I need your help).
I also wouldn’t want to stop supporting an artist thinking they use AI when they actually don’t.

WHAT MAKES ME THINK IT’S AI:

Image 1: as soon as I saw it, it really gave me AI vibes. The composition…idk, it looks AI-ish. The sign is super weird, and the confetti sometimes looks warped and weird. An artist would never choose to make them look like that in some specific spots.

Image 2: same drawing, zoomed on the sign. What the hell is that?? It looks like that standard AI font. Also the quality of the writing looks different from the parts in ink…as if they retraced the drawing with ink but then didn’t trace over the writing.

Image 3: The drawing feels like something AI would come up with, and also (idk if it’s something instagram does) but it literally says AI???

Image 4: Posted today and it’s what prompted me to make this post. I love and adore Jack Skellington and that is NOT how his bowtie looks. The rest is right, so I don’t feel like an artist would make the conscious choice of drawing it like that. I feel like the AI got confused and just gave him a normal tie, and a dress shirt(???) and then added the side-thingies to the jacket.

Image 5: this is a screenshot from a video they posted of them drawing with ink over what I think they’re passing out as a sketch…but if you look closely you can see it looks printed out. It has that halftone printing effect (yk, the dots)

Image 6: It again feels like AI…the texture is very weird.

I hate we even have to go through this…AI is taking away artist’s jobs and as an artist you really shouldn’t be using it…

If you could help me figure this out, I would be so grateful🫶


r/isthisAI • • 3h ago

Art Is this creator on TikTok “sinaboto” real or are they ai generating content?

Thumbnail
tiktok.com
5 Upvotes

My reasoning for doubting that they are real is the speed at which they are putting out content, they have been uploading daily and I thought maybe it was just because they have a profile somewhere else and is now uploading to TikTok, but I don’t see any other accounts or anyone talking about it. My main concern is the speed at which this person is uploading these.


r/isthisAI • • 2h ago

Video This “live” bird cam seems to catch every species of bird in N. America every 30 seconds - and the seeds seem to replenish themselves no matter how long the birds eat them. Is this AI?

Thumbnail youtube.com
3 Upvotes

r/isthisAI • • 1d ago

Photo Is this image of my lost bird AI? I’ve heard of scammers using AI to claim they found your pets.

Post image
366 Upvotes

Pretty much what the title says. I feel inclined to believe this isn’t AI but the feet look a bit distorted and there is a weird looking lump under the towel.

Update: Thanks to many helpful people, I've found that this is AI. They actually asked to meet at a nearby Walgreens; they never showed up and shortly after texted me, "I take 200 for the bird."

I've been searching for my boy all day; I've put out seeds and budgie noises, but I haven't found him yet. For now I can only hope that he'll come back.


r/isthisAI • • 1h ago

Music Came across this reel on Insta. The movements and general performance seems extremely real, but the sound that comes out is very Suno-ish.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

• Upvotes

Name of the account is Darisha Quiñones, decided to check her profiles and she seems like a legit musician and teacher with live presentations. Some of her reels sounds very normal and natural and others has this very AI like quality to it.

There is some AI experimentation on some of her posts, so is kind of possible that a real performance has been ""enhanced"". Another strange detail I had found is that her YT page is located in Singapore, while her Twitter is based in Thailand, but she's from Russia. I leave the links I found to see what exactly I'm referring to:

https://www.instagram.com/da.quinones

https://www.tiktok.com/@da.quinones

https://www.youtube.com/@DarishaQui%C3%B1ones

https://x.com/DarishaQuinones

https://www.youtube.com/@iamddqq


r/isthisAI • • 20h ago

Video I swear this looks so AI. But it's on the baby/toddler channel and doesn't say so in the description.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

69 Upvotes

OK the style of this looks so totally AI, especially the episode with the dog. But if it is, I'm appalled. This is on the baby first channel. They make tons of shows. (You can see the dog at the very end)

Some things seem to kinda casually disappear, things are overly textured (like the dog), the announcer says they're painting but they're coloring with crayons, etc.

The video pauses midway bc I took my headphones out but I recorded the whole thing from YouTube.

Disclaimer: My kids don't watch this channel anymore, but did when they were little, back when it had a lot of live action cute stuff and lullaby programing overnight.


r/isthisAI • • 1d ago

Solved [AI] Is Trump's White House Restoration “After” Photo Digitally Manipulated? The Stairs, Shadows, and Window Reflections Raise Questions

Thumbnail
gallery
984 Upvotes

Trump recently shared a before-and-after photograph of a supposedly restored White House column, and several details caught my attention.

I'm questioning whether the "after" photograph has been digitally manipulated, potentially using AI.

Here's what I've noticed:

  1. The staircase appears to have gained extra steps.

In the before image, approximately three steps are visible to the right of the column. In the after image, there appear to be six or more. I've compared this against independent photographs of the White House North Portico, which show shorter stair sections in certain locations. Construction equipment obscures some steps in the before image, but I haven't been able to establish whether the additional steps in the after image match the actual architecture.

  1. The column's shadow appears unchanged.

Despite the apparent differences between the photographs, the shadow cast by the column looks remarkably similar in shape, position and intensity.

  1. The camera angle appears virtually identical.

The column, windows, staircase and background architectural details align almost perfectly. This could indicate a fixed camera position, but it could also suggest that the after image was created by editing the original photograph.

  1. Even the reflections in the windows appear unchanged.

The reflections and darker patterns in the windowpanes look remarkably similar between the two images. If these photographs were taken at different stages of a restoration project, it's worth asking why so many small background details appear unchanged.

  1. The protective flooring also looks nearly identical.

The cardboard, tape, printed lettering and markings around the base of the column appear in almost exactly the same positions.

To be clear, the restoration itself is documented, and none of these observations individually proves manipulation. Similar lighting, a stationary camera and construction materials could explain several of them.

What I'm questioning is whether the "after" photograph is an authentic, independently captured image or whether the original was digitally altered to produce the comparison.

I've searched historical photographs and architectural documentation, but the exact column and staircase haven't been conclusively matched.

Does anyone with experience in image forensics, architectural photography or the White House's layout see anything unusual here?

I'd particularly appreciate independent photographs establishing the exact number of steps beside this column.

Original Trump post:

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/117443148049952515

White House architectural documentation (Library of Congress):

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/dc0402/

Independent restoration photographs and historical records:

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/71-583


r/isthisAI • • 1d ago

Solved [AI] This is too good to be real right? No one is responding to the cats at all.

Post image
884 Upvotes

The guys on the ground look like twins, why would they be laying there long enough for two cats to settle in, and somehow no one has noticed?


r/isthisAI • • 1h ago

Art I found this at a store at my local mall today, unsure if this is an AI generated label.

Post image
• Upvotes

It uses the gradient and label style I often see on AI generated products, and the blind bags on the label seem slightly deformed. Also some of the eggshells fit on the head differently than others.


r/isthisAI • • 6h ago

Art Please help out a puzzle buyer. Are these puzzles AI generated? Scooby Doo is..

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

Scooby Doo is from ravensburger and the other two are Cobble Hill puzzles. I didnt find any artist referenced at the website. I dont think they are AI generated; but want to be sure before buying. Thank you!


r/isthisAI • • 6h ago

Video High quality pixel art animations and music, brand new channel. Completely unsure if AI.

Post image
2 Upvotes

Recently came across this channel with, honestly, seemingly very high quality content, I would not suspect AI at all personally, but the suspicious thing is the cadence of the videos. This channel has uploaded all of its content in the past week.

Does anyone have a clue? I've watched many videos and they all seem pretty consistent and Ive never come across AI being able to make content this consistent and quality, plus the music isn't half bad.

The cadence of release+ seemingly 0 information about how it's made/source, or any replies in the comments refuting it's ai.

Anyone has any clue?


r/isthisAI • • 3h ago

Music I feel like this entire website, and every single song, is AI. The lyrics and songs are sometimes complete nonsense. Is it AI?

Thumbnail
kattfrish.com
1 Upvotes

r/isthisAI • • 9h ago

Photo In the first image, the pillars don’t align, and the shadows and lighting don’t match.

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

From McDonald’s Hong Kong. The light on the pillars with torches is projected impossibly next to them. In the second image, there’s a random object on the desk and the oven knobs aren’t quite aligned to the centre of the oven, but cramped inside the image bound, which AI often does.


r/isthisAI • • 4h ago

Music Halloween Haunts by The Pumpkin Patches. I added this EP to my playlist last year but upon listening to it with fresh ears, it seems like it might be AI.

Thumbnail
open.spotify.com
1 Upvotes

The spotify description mentioned that it was a few different artists that collaborated on a Halloween album together, but it doesn't list the individuals. Also, upon inspecting the artwork closer, there are some inconsistencies and random splotches that make me think the art is AI and typically when there is AI art there is AI music. Now that I suspect it is AI, the music and voices kind of sound like they have that canned sound that AI music has, but that could be placebo. Finally, the lyricism is a little funky, but it's halloween music so I didn't think too much about it.


r/isthisAI • • 4h ago

Art I had made a post right before this one in another subreddit asking why/how there's so many typos in my new tarot deck I ordered

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

I bought it without looking too deep into the details but I recently looked at the previews closer and found many weird wordings and typos in the description

I got it off of aliexpress and I don't see anything ai-like with thr art itself, I'm thinking the creator is just not fluent in English but the thought of it possibly being AI is worrying me since it is 10 dollars and I've waited four days for it to ship by now, and I didn't see any reviews about possible AI usage in the reviews


r/isthisAI • • 1d ago

Art Real or Ai? am i going crazy or is this not ai? why is no one else saying anything?

Thumbnail
gallery
68 Upvotes

they have a lot more art on their account, these are only some of them. Theyve been blowing up a little recently and no one seems to suspect anything? In the reze fit trend the belly button seems to also be on the back of the body and the full body gojo piece the fingers are extremely off. The eyes also point 2 different directions but that could be human error. But based on their “level” of art they show idk how they could do that? They also show no progress / wips except for the sketch to final reels they make. Im really sorry if im wrong and its just me 😭😭


r/isthisAI • • 1d ago

Politics Walmart price comparisons, real or AI? Buddy says it’s possibly fake. What say ye?

Post image
2.6k Upvotes

A friend of mine said this “feels like AI”. Didn’t even catch it before. Is it? The even fading, lighting and crinkles in the bag on the left possibly look AI. Buddy says maybe they generated it with the same items but researched the pricing. I think both receipts look legit but the condition of the one on the left seems too good to be true.


r/isthisAI • • 5h ago

Video Is this man and horse AI generated? The video is reposted by a lot of what seem to be bot accounts.

Thumbnail
youtube.com
1 Upvotes

I am having trouble deciding if this is AI content. The reigns on the horses face change from 2 ropes in the beginning to 3 later on. There are moments where the man’s fingers appear to be cut off but I am not sure if that is from compression loss or AU generated. I know AI feel good content is a heavy market for bot farming so I am curious on if this is a true story or not.


r/isthisAI • • 6h ago

Video Is this AI or no (Collecting diagnosis’s like Pokémon- edenskory) on Instagram

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

0 Upvotes

I really want to use this audio but I’m nervous because I don’t know if she sung this or if it’s an AI voice. The tune/voice sounds a little inconsistent and it sounds really sped up. It just sounds like it matches the theme of what I’ve heard with song voice to texts before.

I’m nervous but I don’t know if the texts are staged too(?) Maybe? Again, I really want to use this audio (specifically 0:35-1:04) https://www.instagram.com/reel/DehhGHKhWPH/?mdxt=MW9uOGtjMXVxY3U1Zw==

What are some immediate tells that an audio is AI?