Skip to content
ZZUNO

Guide / Image origin

Could this photo be AI-generated?

Some images look completely real. Here’s what to look for.

Adult woman relaxing on a yacht deck with a coastal view
Yacht deck, coastal view.

Look closer

Five places to look

Small inconsistencies can be worth a second look. None of them is proof.

Hands and posture on a yacht deck
Hands and anatomySee how fingers meet objects. Real photos hide and blur hands too.
Wristwatch on a man standing by a sports car
AccessoriesCheck dials, clasps and chains for consistent small parts.
Car mirror beside a man
ReflectionsCompare what a mirror shows with what is in front of it.
Glasses and faces at a rooftop dinner
Lighting and shadowsCompare highlights across faces and glassware.
Emerald handbag and mirror detail
Textures and backgroundsLeather, stitching and metal should keep one logic across the frame.

What looking can’t tell you

Visual inspection alone cannot establish where an image came from.

  • Clean is not real. Convincing images can have no obvious flaws.
  • Odd is not fake. Genuine photos contain blur, warped text and strange reflections.
  • No metadata is not proof. Platforms strip it, and content credentials show provenance, not truth. C2PA explainer

Questions people ask

Can I tell by looking?

Not reliably. Generated images can look natural, and real photos can have unusual details. Treat what you see as a lead, not proof.

Does missing metadata mean AI?

No. Apps strip metadata, and screenshots lose original camera information. Missing data is a gap, not a verdict.

Do content credentials prove a picture is true?

No. They can help establish a file’s recorded history and validate signatures, not whether the scene or accompanying claim is true.

Can a detector get it wrong?

Yes, in either direction. Compression and editing can complicate a check. ZUNO reports an inconclusive result when the evidence is not enough.

Not sure what you’re looking at?

Give the image a closer look with ZUNO.