AI Photo Detector For Fact Checking Teams

Fact-checking teams need more than a detector: they need a repeatable process that produces evidence readers can follow, and a verdict that holds up if challenged.

A repeatable workflow

1. Collect: save the image, the post, the account, the date and every place it's circulating. Archive posts with the Wayback Machine or archive.today in case they're deleted.
2. Get the best copy: the highest resolution, earliest version you can find.
3. Check provenance: read metadata and Content Credentials. AI Image Detector (made by Patrick Bushe, who runs this site) reads EXIF, IPTC, XMP and PNG data in Chrome; Content Credentials Verify checks signed histories.
4. Trace the origin: reverse search with Google Lens, TinEye, Bing and Yandex; check "About this image."
5. Verify the scene: geolocate landmarks, check the weather and shadows for the claimed time, check signs and languages.
6. Look for artifacts: zoom in on hands, text, faces in crowds and repeated textures. The InVID-WeVerify plugin has a magnifier and forensic filters.
7. Run detectors: use one or two visual detectors as supporting evidence, noting their scores.
8. Contact sources: reach out to the original poster, photographers, or people at the scene.

Document everything

Keep screenshots of each result, links, dates and who did each step. Another team member should be able to repeat the check and reach the same result.

Weigh the evidence

• Strong: AI metadata or credentials, the creator saying it's AI, an original from an AI art account, a mismatch with verified facts.
• Supporting: visual artifacts, detector scores, the account's history.
• Weak alone: missing metadata, a "too perfect" look.

Write clear verdicts

Explain what you checked and found, in plain language. If you can't confirm, say so. Avoid citing a detector score as the main evidence, since readers can't judge it and detectors make mistakes.

Standards

The International Fact-Checking Network's code of principles asks signatories to be transparent about sources and methods. Showing your steps builds trust.

See tools for journalists and verifying an image's source.