Free Tool To Check If Image Is Real Or AI

Several free tools can help, but it's worth knowing upfront: proving an image is AI is often easier than proving it's real. AI tools leave signatures; a real photo can only be shown real through evidence of where it came from.

Free tools and what they check

• AI Image Detector (made by Patrick Bushe, who runs this site): a Chrome extension that reads an image's metadata when you right-click it. It flags AI generator names, Stable Diffusion settings, AI tags and Content Credentials, and notes camera details that point to a real photo. Free, and the standard check doesn't upload the image.
• Content Credentials Verify: reads signed Content Credentials, which can show an image came from a specific camera or app, or from an AI tool.
• Google Lens and TinEye: reverse image search to find earlier copies and the original source.
• Visual detectors: Hive, SightEngine and others offer free demos or limited free checks that score an image's pixels.

A quick order to use them in

1. Check metadata. If it names an AI tool, you likely have your answer.
2. If Content Credentials exist, verify them.
3. Reverse search for the earliest copy.
4. Run a visual detector if still unsure.
5. Zoom in for visual clues.

What points to real

• Signed Content Credentials from a camera.
• Full camera metadata, consistent with the claimed time and place.
• An original from a known photographer or agency.
• Other photos or video of the same scene from different people.

What doesn't

A low AI score, or no AI metadata, doesn't make an image real. Metadata is often stripped, and detectors miss some AI images. "No sign of AI" isn't the same as "real."

See how to tell if an image is AI and three quick checks for a photo.