AI - Be afraid, be very afraid.
I am here to tell you that things are not what they seem.
As we immerse ourselves in more and more technology, you really do need to be careful about what you believe when you see videos and photographs online. In school, I had several classes that were Photoshop-heavy. I got pretty good, but some of my classmates were absolutely incredible! It gave me the ability to catch photoshopped photos pretty easily. Now we have AI to deal with, and the number of photos and videos out there is alarming!
This is what I do when I am trying to spot a dupe:
Immediately have zero trust in what you are looking at. I know this is a bit pessimistic, but it’s helped me stay ahead of the AI images.
Listen to your instincts; if you are questioning it in the first 3 seconds, there’s a good reason.
Look for things that are out of place or look funny:
-smudging on the image
-odd lengths of appendages
-missing or too many fingers or toes (or literally an extra appendage)
-if it’s an image where there should be a lot of people (bar, lake, beach, tourist location, etc.), but there’s no one in the background
-if the video has an odd flow to it or is claiming something very outlandish
There was an image of an owl that circulated through social media a few years ago; the poster was trying to convince the internet that it was a real animal in the wild with rainbow coloring. The interesting part about this for me is that I have extensive experience with birds of prey and specifically this owl in its natural form. Below is a similar image, as well as an image of me holding the same species of owl at a sanctuary I worked for. This owl is called a barred owl and lives all over the US, but loves the wooded areas in more humid climates.
The amount of AI being used on the World Wide Web is starting to become excessive. While it is helpful on Photoshop when I am trying to remove something unsightly from the back of one of my images, it can create some really scary things to be circulated. So stay safe, educated, use your common sense, and when in doubt, send it to your photographer friend.
