Artificial Intelligence: How do we know that a photo is AI?

An online "war" began after the post of the deputy spokesperson of the ELAS George Balatsoukas on Facebook. The AI photo of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hugging the PSD leader and opposition leader Niko Androulakis, accompanied by the comment: "Kyriakos, are you listening? Is PASOK proud of the co-government with ND. In the end, who will save whom?", was not overlooked. The response was not long in coming from the PSD Spokesperson Olga Markogiannakis: "Fake news that the 'Truth Team' would love. Only the panic is a bad director and the mud always turns back on whoever threw it." In her post she added: "A photo from AI and from Mr. Balatsoukas's wild fantasy cannot hide the real photo that anyone can find on Google. Mr. Tsipras hugging the far-right Panos Kammenos." The Trap of Artificial Intelligence This is a photo clearly created with the help of Artificial Intelligence, which is easily understood by the public reading the comments below the relevant post. But how many times have we fallen into the trap of AI? A few seconds of browsing on social media are enough for the question to arise: Is what I see real? Whether it is an image, a video, or an audio file, the danger is real. Until a few years ago, recognizing such content was a relatively easy matter. However, the rapid progress of technology, especially in the field of artificial intelligence, has turned our online "journey" into a ...quiz. It is noted that, now, some social media platforms allow the creator to label the content as AI-generated, adding the relevant marking. View this post on Instagram Three simple ways to understand that a picture is AI - The truth lies in the detail: Distortions in the human body and incomprehensible text can betray the artificial origin of an image. - Very good to be real: Faces with unnatural smooth skin, absence of natural texture, and overly uniform lighting can be warning signs. The same applies to scenes that look excessively perfect or staged for the conditions they are supposed to depict. See this post on Instagram. - Think "outside the box": Reverse image search, with tools like Google Lens, can prove to be helpful. Posts of the same image help in locating the original source or older versions. Seven additional signs that may betray AI content The guide from the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) proposes a broader approach to verifying photos, videos, and audio clips. 1.Inconsistencies in shadows and reflections: Shadows moving in different directions, despite the existence of a bright source, and reflections that do not correspond to the objects can be indications of artificial creation. View this post on Instagram 2.Problems with perspective. Building lines that are not aligned, windows with irregular arrangement, or objects that appear to violate the rules of geometry can reveal weaknesses in artificial intelligence. 3.Digital traces in the file. Metadata, i.e., the information accompanying a digital file, may reveal information about the creation or processing software. Specialized tools can also detect patterns in the pixels that are not easily visible to the naked eye. 4.Unnatural sound and speech. Mechanical fluctuations in the voice, unusual pauses, unnatural speech rhythm, and the absence of natural breaths can be indications of synthetic sound. Correspondingly, inconsistencies between hand movements and words may indicate video alteration. 5.Inconsistencies in place and time. The era, weather conditions, architecture, and objects in an image can be cross-referenced with the stated date and location. Elements that do not match each other may reveal that the content does not depict the event as presented. 6.Unnatural human reactions. In scenes with crowds, overly similar expressions, strange movements, and unusual interactions can create the feeling that something is not authentic. Human behavior is another parameter for evaluation. 7.Source reliability. The origin of the material, the reliability of the account that posted it, and the existence of independent confirmations are of crucial importance. A high-quality image from an unknown source, without additional documentation, requires further examination.