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My phone buzzes again. I pick it up. Slightly annoyed at someone disturbing my flow state, I look at the notification – it’s a video. I open the message to see a dog on a trampoline, doing backflips. “Look at this amazing dog!” says the message. “AI…” is all I text back.

More and more people are being taken in by AI images, and especially video. As technology becomes more sophisticated, it is becoming harder to tell what is real and what isn’t, especially if you do not deal with technology on a day-to-day basis. Here are some tips for spotting AI-generated images and video:

Irregularities

One of the most noticeable indicators of AI‑generated images or video is mistakes or irregularities in human features, especially faces and hands. AI systems often struggle with anatomy, producing faces that look slightly asymmetrical or expressions that feel unnatural. Hands are a particularly common giveaway: fingers may be missing, duplicated, or oddly shaped. While these errors are becoming less frequent as visual models improve, they still appear often enough to raise suspicion.

Inconsistencies

Another key sign is inconsistent detail. AI images may include clothing patterns that abruptly change, jewellery that blends into skin, or backgrounds that look smudged or warped. Watch for when something like a car, a background person, or a prop suddenly changes in a video. Text inside images, such as signs, labels, or writing on clothing, is frequently misspelled, unreadable, or composed of gibberish.

Lighting

Lighting and shadows can also reveal whether an image was created by AI. In real photographs, light behaves consistently across a scene, casting shadows in predictable directions. AI‑generated images may feature shadows that do not match the light source or reflections that look wrong. For example, a face may be brightly lit while the surrounding environment appears dim, or reflections in mirrors may not accurately reflect the scene.

The Wow Factor

You should also follow your gut. If something looks too good to be true, it probably is. It is tempting to believe that there are sharks in a local lake, but step back and think about it… Really? Give it some extra scrutiny, and likely telltale signs will appear. Do some research, look for other sources to back up extraordinary claims, or do a reverse image search to verify. It’s annoying, but better than being taken in.

Some of these images and videos are still funny, cool, and interesting, and there is nothing wrong with that if they are labelled as “AI-generated.” When passed off as reality, though, they can cause us to accept things that may be false, spreading misinformation or outright lies.

So, the next time you are scrolling and come across something that doesn’t seem quite right, give it a second look before forwarding or reposting. You'll avoid propagating it and help the real images and video rise to the top of everyone’s feed.

Scott Speirs is a senior product manager at Electronic Arts with a 30-year career in 3-D animation and entertainment.