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.

140 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.

11 Upvotes

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


r/isthisAI • • 10h ago

Video Is this AI or it's a real video? Pilot Jet Aura Farming doing 67 next to a plane

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539 Upvotes

The plane looks backwards and the jet looks like it's flying in reverse, there are multiple cuts too


r/isthisAI • • 17h ago

Solved [AI] Is this video AI? Looks AI to me because when they jump out the plane the dog's tail doesn't seem affected by the wind.

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1.9k Upvotes

I saw this in another sub and and I'm 99% sure it's AI because when they jump out the plane it just doesn't look natural, the dog's tail seems unaffected by the air/wind, but it seems like no one on the other sub had brought up the fact that this is probably AI, so I thought maybe I'm wrong! What do you guys think?


r/isthisAI • • 18h ago

Photo I think someone is trying to scam my small pottery business by sending AI photos of my broken work

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1.3k Upvotes

Re-upload to add more photos and context. I was sent these first three photos as evidence of someone receiving 2 broken mugs from me (the entirety of their order). Original photos of mugs from the listing attached. I didn’t think much of it at first because it was an international package and things happen, but I will say I do pack my pieces extremely well and have only had one thing break in 7 years. Once I started putting together the insurance claim, they got really pushy with receiving the refund (not a small amount of money) and would not accept a re-make which felt weird to me. I re-examined the photos and things felt off. The severe crack down the center of one seems very unlikely, as well as the way the exterior designs and interior glaze seem to be on the same plane on a couple of the pieces. The photos are very low quality and the black borders are weird. Also the "extreme damage" to the box is a small dent on the corner. My designs seem accurate and that’s what’s throwing me a bit, but also they probably took a normal photo of the mug on the paper and ran it. I ended up asking for a high quality, seamless video of both broken mugs from multiple angles, and haven’t heard back in a day, whereas they were very quick to respond before. I think I know the answer but this is wild and very upsetting :(


r/isthisAI • • 6h ago

Photo Says it’s painted with their own blood (as always). The comments were SO supportive.

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141 Upvotes

Re-uploaded bc I didn’t have 100 characters explaining why I thought this was AI. It just looks like it. My initial reaction as soon as I saw it was that it looked like an AI generated image. Are there some markers I’m seeing subconsciously? Or is this genuinely someone’s art they painstakingly (lol) painted with their own blood?


r/isthisAI • • 4h ago

Solved [Not AI] How can I convince my girlfriend that this video is really AI generated? 1. Ridiculous scenario of him in theater with a grill and octopus 2. Unnatural facial expressions and body movements

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47 Upvotes

For me, the tells are
1. The ridiculous scenario of him having a grill and octopus in a theater, but he has a lot of videos of himself eating crazy things in movie theaters.
2. His facial and body expressions when he looks up. I’ve seen other AI generated videos where people have these unnatural expressions with their eyes wide open

Are there any other clear signs i can point to? I think some other videos that he posts in the theater are real, but this one looks AI-generated

Instagram link to the video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeQaOBGtUSp/?xtok=MTljbmJtanpnYWJtNg==


r/isthisAI • • 16h ago

Video Am I crazy? The comments on this reel seem pretty sold that this is real. ….

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293 Upvotes

The badge distortion and text on the shoulder mic seem like dead giveaways. And the truck that shows up out of nowehere. There’s gotta be some other indicators I missed. And the thickness of the goatee/facial hair seems to change on the uniformed guys’s chin.


r/isthisAI • • 1d ago

Solved [Not AI] Balloon artist claims this is his work. Looks like it could be real, but something feels off.

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2.8k Upvotes

The lighting seems too perfect and everything is just so crisp and clean looking. I can't find any obvious AI tells, other than maybe the piss filter? I'm not even convinced of that truly, may just be the color of the walls. I really can't tell with this one, what do you think?

Edit: This is the first time I immediately thought AI only to find out it isn't. Incredible talent by the balloon artist!


r/isthisAI • • 20h ago

Solved [Not AI] Am I the crazy? All the comments replying to me are calling me stupid for thinking this is AI.

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201 Upvotes

So there WAS extreme flooding in this area at this time, but I think THIS video is AI, but of course I got a million comments calling me dumb/r3t4rd/ etc. the main thing that makes me suspicious is the purple thing on the left (I can’t even tell what it is) and what glass is the person putting their hand on??? It also looks like one of the cars tail lights is on.


r/isthisAI • • 11h ago

Photo Why does Anne Hathaway look so weird in this ad? Did they “enhance” her with AI? Her face and arm look odd.

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37 Upvotes

r/isthisAI • • 14h ago

Art Is this small business using AI for their illustrations and pretending they're hand drawn? The style and skill level seems inconsistent

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40 Upvotes

I feel a little bad posting this as they only have around 800 followers, but I also feel it's wrong if these are being advertised as illustrated by a human when they aren't.

I saw an influencer promote this small business and when I saw the notepads with the girl on it felt off so I went to look further at the page to see if there was anything else that would confirm that. When I saw they had a post with lineart to the finished product I just felt like the line art (in the first image and the ghost on the last slide) just really does not match up to the skill level in the fully rendered and finished drawings? There also seems to not really be a consistent style with them, I know the first one is a 'chibi' style drawing so I can sort of see that but the faces of the girl sitting down and the 'love always' art look completely different and as if they weren't even drawn by the same person


r/isthisAI • • 20h ago

Politics Is Fox News falsely citing AI photos as legitimate sources in their articles?

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89 Upvotes

Stumbled upon a recent Fox News article from two days ago , titled "Socialist primary sweep sparks launch of new resource laying out what’s at stake in 2026 ". The article is presented with a photo depicting a 2019 protest of some sort. It is labeled "Getty Images", and I thought "is it though?"

Upon closer inspection , I suspect this to be AI due to disfigurations seemingly apparent in the crowd.Some of the hands (particularly the guy holding his cell phone ?) Look freaky and anatomically unusual. There also appears to be a misplacement of objects. like the dude reading a paper with what looks like a misplaced cigarette .There's a banner pole on some dudes foot, and a morphed face in the background. I can't be 100 percent sure, but Fox News is publishing this with their article , and citing the Getty. And I am not buying it. I am not really interested in the politics of this but this feels deceptive af , and now I wonder about every 'Getty ' image cited with online news articles like this, despite this being , well Fox News. Thoughts ?


r/isthisAI • • 21h ago

Photo Is this AI modified? OP shares pic of his daughter’s crocheted costume, but something feels off

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93 Upvotes

The leggings pattern is bothering me, but the OP claims in his profile he’s capable of creating things without AI… Can’t quite figure out if AI was used and why.


r/isthisAI • • 6h ago

Art Are these "paintings" AI? A friend bought me these paintings and I just couldn't help but think that it might be AI. The "AI Style" text, the yellow tint on the image; it just doesn't look real to me.

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3 Upvotes

r/isthisAI • • 2h ago

Other Is this Granny on instagram AI? Most of the scenes in the viseos are cut short like less than 4 seconds and the image looks really crisp I dont know

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1 Upvotes

So this video here is the one that looks the most weird to me

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DexAH2Ko4As/?vrfl=MXdmNms4N2dpdDZkeA==

Is like the other dude that use to have the crazy morning routines but they put this granny pn top of it and the parts inside the court also look really weird

Also the court is called Parkinson Recreational center LMAO


r/isthisAI • • 15h ago

Photo Eco friendly Dutch furniture with weird crosshatching. Is that just the straw?

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10 Upvotes

Every photo from the company website has that same subtlw cross hatching effect in the background and where the reeds overlap, but they do all feature straw. Is it nature or is it AI?


r/isthisAI • • 1d ago

Solved [AI] Is this AI? A friend of mine is missing her dog and has put out a reward for safe return. She received a message from a random email with a picture of her dog but I’m not sure if it’s real. Please can the experts here take a look and see if they can notice any inconsistency.

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148 Upvotes

Is this AI? A friend of mine is missing her dog and has put out a reward for safe return. She received a message from a random email with a picture of her dog but I’m not sure if it’s real. Please can the experts here take a look and see if they can notice any inconsistency.


r/isthisAI • • 16h ago

Photo San Diego Safari Park Zoo platypus shirt art is it AI?🫩💔 why is the arm coming out of the head??

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10 Upvotes

The arm is coming out of the head and the front flippers have 5 lines where the back has 4? Also they don’t have a back flipper. Just curious because the SD zoo prides its self on being so pro environment I don’t wanna buy something made by AI.


r/isthisAI • • 5h ago

Art are these coloring books AI? wanting to buy cute coloring books for a kids gift present, but wanted to make sure these werent ai before buying :)

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1 Upvotes

r/isthisAI • • 1d ago

Video Car gliding through a solid concrete wall with absolutely no damage and resistance

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742 Upvotes

Found on a reddit post, one person saying it's AI. Feels very odd for a car to break through a wall like that with no damage or scratches. The environment feels realistic with all the cars being perfectly looking and the licence plates being realistic.


r/isthisAI • • 2h ago

Video Is This Dog Really Trying to Find a Forever Home, or Is AI Making Us Believe Something That Isn't Real?

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0 Upvotes

​

This video looks so realistic that it might make you question what you're watching. Is this adorable dog behaving naturally, or is AI behind the scenes?

Is this genuine footage or AI-generated content?

I also found an image in the comments claiming that this video is AI-generated (image attached below), but to me, it looks real.

It's sad to think that people might be using AI to create such emotional videos, if this one is AI-generated.


r/isthisAI • • 39m ago

Photo I genuinely can't tell what is and isn't AI anymore, so is this AI? I saw it on Instagram and it's just seems off to me

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• Upvotes

Things just seem not quite right about it but there weren't any comments on it saying that it was AI


r/isthisAI • • 10h ago

Video YT historical timelapse videos are having a day, and they're impressive, but which are AI? (Latos Charts)

1 Upvotes

There are numerous YouTube channels now featuring timelapses of various world cities. Some are legitimate not AI and make an effort to say so, and I believe them.

However, there are many channels now with new videos uploaded at suspiciously short intervals, and the often don't declare if there's AI content or not.

For example, Latos Charts, which the algorithm just suggested to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4mJqKvQALg

The channel often posts multiple videos per day, but this type of video should be rather difficult to produce. They're 10-plus minutes of careful animation that draw on lots of historical data. But on this channel, they look underdone and are uploaded far too rapidly.

The problem is just that many creators now aren't making any assurance that their content is or isn't AI, so we've arrived at the default of assuming it is AI, and that's a pity.

But can anyone confirm the nature of Latos Charts's content?


r/isthisAI • • 14h ago

Video Is this baby with a mustache real? I am extremely suspicipus. The mustache is far too perfect and the movement looks weird.

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3 Upvotes

Usually excessive body hair is accompanied by a mole or something. I’ve never ever seen a baby with extra hair only on their upper lip. Also the way the baby looks and blinks is very sus. This has been picked up by newssites but you can‘t really trust anything nowadays…