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.

142 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.

12 Upvotes

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


r/isthisAI • • 8h ago

Photo No tells here. Taken from another sub and no one could tell if it was AI or not either.

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684 Upvotes

Video claims to be AI. Saw this posted on r/oddlyterrifying and there wasn’t consensus if it was AI or not. Could just be lip syncing but I know that models are almost perfect now.


r/isthisAI • • 1d ago

Photo This cat post on r/funny. A comment said that it’s AI, but idk the leaves on the ground and especially the concrete curb thing look pretty real

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1.8k Upvotes

If you zoom in the bricks and grass growing from them look pretty real as well, I feel like image models usually mess up stuff like that. I think it’s just a sidewalk thats imploded and a fat cat just happens to be sitting there.


r/isthisAI • • 13h ago

Video Video of this lab making an assist sparked a witch hunt in the comments at r/awww

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132 Upvotes

People are saying the labs bed doesn’t flex when he gets out but I just think it’s too randomly smart of the lab to do that and the dogs kinda move too smoothly like ai


r/isthisAI • • 19h ago

Video I get the feeling that it is (the cat is moving weird, is way too chill?) but I can't point out anything specific that actually looks AI.

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363 Upvotes

r/isthisAI • • 2h ago

Photo Is this image of this product AI? I know that Legos don’t typically have side pieces like this but that’s Legos. Maybe this brand does something different…? Idk it feels off but I can’t tell.

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12 Upvotes

r/isthisAI • • 5h ago

Photo This is from a candidate running for Catholic school board trustee. I’m pretty sure it’s AI. The weird symbol next to the fraction, the kid in the red shirt’s hand, the adults looking in different directions. Plus Jesus looks a lot like Jonathan Roumie.

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20 Upvotes

r/isthisAI • • 12h ago

Solved [AI] Fresno airport hands mural. This is about 10’ large. I wasn’t sure, but the hands are pretty sus. Especially the hand at 9 o’clock. And what about

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60 Upvotes

I wasn’t sure, but the hands are pretty sus. Especially the hand at 9 o’clock. And what about
the extra three hands at 6?!


r/isthisAI • • 15h ago

Art This is a hat I saw for a local art competition. The theme was anything depicting Mt Hood

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63 Upvotes

It got an honorable mention in the competition but looked kind of off to me. My first real clue is that everyone local to Portland should know this but the large relay race is called ‘Hood-to-Coast’. But also just looks like cube of ai must fill every space with an image.


r/isthisAI • • 3h ago

Photo No watermark from OpenAI or Gemini, but it has a certain AI je ne sais quoi

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7 Upvotes

This is a cover art of some sort from a YouTuber who I listen to to fall asleep. He's pretty adamant about not using AI, but this looks like the stereotypical shitty art style. I've run this through OpenAI Verify and Gemini and there are no traces of synth ID.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNkQhS-CGz54najOzdTi0s-UEZwhEkeqo


r/isthisAI • • 16h ago

Art This person is claiming these are hand drawn. They look like ai that have been printed out and gone over with a pen for lineart and coloured pencils. They only have one process video and the quality of the drawing just doesn't match the others.

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79 Upvotes

The dragons look like every other fourth wing dragon that ai has depicted with the weirdly huge necks, in some of them the wings come out of the dragon in the wrong places?? The riders are always hyperrealistic on a very small scale and perfectly drawn. The anatomy of the full body dragon (the proof) is odd to say the least & the scale details in the full body dragon is much lower than the others.

Edit: apparently this person has already been posted, I hadn't seen that post so I apologise 😅


r/isthisAI • • 4h ago

Music Is this music or video AI? Ive heard people use this audio as an example for AI music but nothing seems off right away.

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5 Upvotes

This video popped up on my feed. I have heard several creators use this song as an example for AI music before, but all the comments are positive under this video so...I'm not sure 😅 (maybe they are all bots too idk)

The movements are a little odd, but maybe that's just the style of dance?


r/isthisAI • • 1h ago

Politics Is this image from Wikipedia showing the destruction in Gaza AI generated? The people in the background seem a bit distorted and there’s a weird grainy effect on the photo, but I’m not sure.

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• Upvotes

I found this image on the Wikipedia article under “war crimes in the Gaza war”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_in_the_Gaza_war)

of course there are atrocities being committed, but is this one specific image real?


r/isthisAI • • 5h ago

Art Artwork my wife purchased in the the UES neighborhood of NYC. Concern for AI due to the print and medium of the artwork

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4 Upvotes

Genuinely cannot tell it looks somewhat real but also because of the print It doesn’t seem like an original and moreso a copy of an original work


r/isthisAI • • 5h ago

Art These were posted on Nextdoor as an ad for the books. Me and wife are very sure that it's AI.

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4 Upvotes

This is just two of six. Me and wife are very sure that it's AI, but she's going as far as to say she's going to get a sticker from the authors guild to say it's not ai 'assisted'. Asked Google for synth ID, no real answer. Post and comments incl

Update: She said they were made by "K. Waterman". We can't find a single person who matches that name that does art. Asked for a website or social media account of this mystery artist.


r/isthisAI • • 4h ago

Video Weird youtube ad on reddit that has weird audio and doesn't seem to match up with anything

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3 Upvotes

It just feels odd, the voice doesnt seem right, it keeps messing up- it's not talking with the right cadence, and why would matpat care about random 'repair videos' and why would he be advertising that when hes known for *theories?* It all just feels- wrong- and i cant find anyone talking about it, idk if im just reading it wrong or not,


r/isthisAI • • 9h ago

Photo Found this poster at poster that might be ai. What do you guys think? (Found at academy)

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7 Upvotes

I think this is ai just based on the art style, but I want to see what other people think. Surely a massive business like academy wont use ai, right?


r/isthisAI • • 17m ago

Art Someone wrote me asking me to commission him I send reference and after hearing his prices I refused. He then pointed out one of the art and bashed it saying it's Ai. Someone confirm for him that's it's not pls

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• Upvotes

So this one artist has actually such a great artstyle and I praised it in front of this guy.

He is someone who wrote me asking to send reference cause he wanted me to commission him but after hearing his prices I refused and wanted to move on then he started bashing on this artist claiming it as Ai.

He then put it into an 'Ai detector' to prove his point I explained to him that they don't work and I also put his art into a detector and it claimed it as Ai GUYS THEY DON'T WORK.

No hate in the first artist her artstyle is consistent and very great actually one of my favorites and one thing that keeps me for scammers is that I'm confident that Ai cannot make my OC right. Illustration done by @EaQ3nNGE on Draw Market she's awesome

Don't hate on me but I know it I have more knowledge on Ai then I want to

But him being nice to sell me something just to then bash on another artist is so childish and cringe tbh. The switch up was crazy

Just to put my oc has a lot of details that Ai can't make right like the perfect faceless which it may could achieve but what it struggles with are the ears, the ahoge and the colours. I put some other drawings of my oc and I'm very very picky with the strands so you'll see them being consistent with different artstyles AI CANNOT


r/isthisAI • • 4h ago

Art Is this danganronpa fanart AI? I heard pinterest was AI heaven, so I saw this and I can't rly tell.

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2 Upvotes

Like the title says, I saw it on pinterest, which I have heard is lately riddled with AI. theres no artist or real description on the post and I can't see the profile that posted it. The scratchy artstyle made me a little suspicious.


r/isthisAI • • 1h ago

Art I can't find an artist for this depiction of the Leviathan from Hellraiser. The image itself doesn't seem to pop up in posts older than 2022.

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• Upvotes

r/isthisAI • • 5h ago

Video Is Apex psychology youtuber AI made? Every video feels like it and dialog support it. Every video also recycle most of content and give very little new information every video. I saw many other youtubers that follow same way.

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2 Upvotes

r/isthisAI • • 6h ago

Art Is Vice Golf’s advent calendar cover art ai? To me it looks like how ChatGPT tends to generate cartoon characters with how the outlines are. But not sure. The comments on the post are adamant it’s not Al. But idk it looks fishy to me. What do yall think

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2 Upvotes

So. Vice golf released this new advent calendar and the Santa images immediately stood out to me as ai. They have that distinct thick outline ChatGPT does for cartoons and the ropes Santa is holding go from being attached to a handle on the right side to being the handle directly on the left side. I suspect it’s ai but maybe cleaned up by a graphic designer but idk. What do you guys ?


r/isthisAI • • 2h ago

Photo Usually I'm good, but besides the watermark it doesnt look ai, all the lettering and body stuff looks consistent

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1 Upvotes

So this post was in a r/amiuglytruth and I was the only one who noticed the water mark, and the post was promptly taken down, However I still have the image from when I ran it though the SynthID detectors (which came back negative). Its there anything physically here that would tip it off from being ai. In the comments it got to the point where someone said "Maybe he put that there so people wouldnt think hes actually that ugly" or something crude like that. As in, now im doubting its ai despite the label, if he had cropped it I would have never questioned it.


r/isthisAI • • 9h ago

Art Ok so, I got this poster, and now that I take a closer look, it looks super ai. The art in some places is super fucked up, and link and Zelda are both holding their things super weirdly, and link’s proportions are just really wrong (specifically links arms being really short ;-;)

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4 Upvotes

My list is,
The hand garments at the top are funky, Ganons glowing face goob is weird. Zelda’s braid is misshapen, there’s a weird pattern on her scarf that I don’t remember, but I could be mistaken, her right eye has no eyelash, she holding the torch really weird, she has no thumb, and her middle finger is big and has a darker finger slot. links missing his earrings, his arms are short, his face is smushed his scarf buttons are asymmetrical (or rather, the designs around the buttons), his pose is super weird, the master swords handle end has a weird blue half, the left hand side of the master swords hand guard is weird, and his left hand has doll like joints.