Guides

How to tell if something was made by AI

Step-by-step guides for checking images, text, video, voice messages and code yourself — the visual and written tells, the provenance data to look for, and how to read a detector’s result without over-trusting it.

How to Tell if an Image Is AI Generated

To tell if an image is AI generated, combine four checks: look for visual tells, read the file's metadata and Content Credentials, trace where the picture first appeared, and run it through an AI image checker. No single check is proof. When several point the same way, you have a solid indication.

How to Tell if Text Is AI Generated

Here is how to tell if text is AI generated: compare its style with the writer's known work, look for generic, unverifiable content, check the drafting history, and use an AI text checker as one signal among several. No single sign is reliable on its own. The strongest evidence usually comes from a conversation with the author, not from the text alone.

How to Spot a Deepfake Video

To spot a deepfake video, first work out what kind of fake it could be, then check the face, mouth and sound for mismatches, trace the clip back to its original source and date, and run it through a deepfake detector that shows when the suspicious moments occur. Context checks often settle the question before pixel checks do.

How to Tell if a Voice Is AI

To tell if a voice is AI, listen for flat emotion, missing breaths and studio-clean sound, but do not trust your ears alone: good voice clones pass a phone call. The reliable test is the request, not the voice. If a call or voice message asks for urgency, secrecy or money, hang up and call the person back on a number you already know.

Are AI Detectors Accurate? An Honest Answer

AI detectors are accurate enough to be a useful signal and not accurate enough to be proof. Their reliability depends on the content type, the generator, the length and quality of the file, and whether it was edited. Use a detector to decide where to look closer, never as the sole basis for a decision about a person.

What Is C2PA? Content Credentials Explained

C2PA is an open technical standard for attaching a signed, tamper-evident history to a photo, video, audio file or document. That history, called Content Credentials, can record which camera or AI tool created the file and how it was edited. It shows where content came from, but it does not prove the content is true, and its absence proves nothing.

How to Detect AI Generated Code

To detect AI generated code, rely first on process evidence: ask the author to explain and modify the code, read the commit history, and use live or oral checks. Stylistic signals and AI code detectors can point you to the functions worth questioning, but code is the hardest content to judge, so no detector result should decide anything alone.

AI Detector vs Plagiarism Checker: What’s the Difference?

The difference in AI detector vs plagiarism checker comes down to the question each one answers. A plagiarism checker looks for passages copied from existing sources; an AI detector estimates whether the wording was generated by a model like ChatGPT. AI-written text usually passes a plagiarism check because it is newly generated, not copied, so you need the tool that matches your question.

Does Google Penalize AI Content? What Google Actually Says

Does Google penalize AI content? Not for being AI. Google’s published guidance says it rewards helpful, reliable content however it is produced, while its spam policies target pages mass-produced, by AI or by people, mainly to manipulate rankings. The question that matters is not who or what wrote a page, but whether it helps the reader.

What Is SynthID? Google’s AI Watermark Explained

What is SynthID? It is Google DeepMind’s technology for adding an invisible watermark to AI-generated images, video, audio and text, and for detecting that watermark later. It can confirm that content was made with Google AI or with partner tools that use SynthID. It cannot tell you whether content from other AI tools is AI-generated, so it is one check among several, not a universal AI detector.

What Is a Deepfake? Meaning, Types and Examples

What is a deepfake? It is a video, image or audio clip in which AI makes a real person appear to say or do something they never said or did. The term covers face swaps, lip-sync edits, fully generated video, cloned voices and fake photos of real people. Some deepfakes are harmless or made with consent; others are used for fraud, harassment and misinformation.

How to Tell if a Video Is AI on Social Media

To tell if a video is AI on social media, check five things in order: the platform’s AI label, visual and audio tells, the account that posted it, earlier copies found by searching key frames, and an AI video detector. A missing label proves nothing. When several independent checks point the same way, you have a solid indication, not proof.

How to Spot a Fake Profile Picture

To spot a fake profile picture, check the face for AI tells such as mismatched earrings, warped glasses and blurred backgrounds, run a reverse image search, and look at the rest of the profile for red flags. Then ask for a live video call. No single check is proof, but a photo that fails several of them deserves real caution.

How to Spot AI Generated Reviews

To spot AI generated reviews, look at the pattern across many reviews rather than one: generic praise, the same phrases repeated, bursts of posts on the same days and reviewers with thin histories. Then check longer reviews with an AI text detector. Short reviews are hard to judge by any method, so treat each result as an indication, not proof.

How to Tell if a Website Is AI Generated

To tell if a website is AI generated, check its text, images and design for generic, templated content, then check who stands behind it: domain age, contact and legal pages, and reviews on other sites. An AI website checker can scan many pages at once. AI content alone does not make a site a scam, so judge trust signals separately.

How to Check if a Website Is Legit: 10 Checks That Actually Work

To check if a website is legit, verify who runs it rather than how it looks: look up when the domain was registered, find the company named in its legal notice in an official registry, and check Google Safe Browsing and regulator warning lists. Then look at how it wants to be paid and whether its photos and reviews are its own. A site that fails several of these checks is a reason to stop before you pay.

Is This a Scam? 12 Warning Signs (With Examples)

It is probably a scam if someone you did not contact creates a problem or a prize, pushes you to act now, and asks you to pay in a way that is hard to reverse, such as a gift card, wire transfer, crypto or a payment app. Those are the FTC’s four core signs, and the 12 warning signs below cover the variations. If a message shows two or more of them, stop and verify through a channel you find yourself.

What Is a Brushing Scam? Why You Got a Package You Never Ordered

A brushing scam is when a seller ships you a product you never ordered so it can post fake reviews under your name, as if you were a real buyer. The item is usually cheap and harmless, and in the US you can keep it without paying. The real concern is that someone has your name and address, and newer versions add a QR code that leads to a phishing site.

How to Spot Fake Job Postings on Indeed, LinkedIn and by Email

To spot a fake job posting, check who is really hiring, what they ask from you and how they interview. A fake offer usually comes from an email address that is not on the company’s domain, skips a real interview in favour of chat apps, and sooner or later asks you to pay, deposit a check or buy equipment. Indeed says you should never have to send money to apply for a job on Indeed, and the FTC says honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job.

Signs of a Fake Online Store (and How to Check One in a Minute)

A fake online store usually gives itself away in four places: a domain registered recently, prices far below every other seller, no company you can find in an official registry, and a checkout that pushes bank transfer, crypto or gift cards instead of a card. You can check all four in about a minute with a domain lookup, the legal notice, Google Safe Browsing and a look at the payment page.

How to Find Out Who Is Behind a Website or a Scam

To find out who is behind a website, start with its legal notice and the domain’s registration record (RDAP, the successor to WHOIS), then confirm the company in an official registry, the global LEI database or Wikidata. Since data protection laws, most registrars hide the personal details of domain owners, so a lookup often shows only the registrar. For a scam, you can usually trace the infrastructure and the business identity it claims, not the person; identifying them is a job for the police, who can obtain the hidden data.

How to Report a Scam (US, UK, France and the EU)

To report a scam, use your country’s official channel: in the US, ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI’s ic3.gov for internet crime; in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Report Fraud (reportfraud.police.uk, 0300 123 2040), which replaced Action Fraud in December 2025; in France, 17Cyber, Pharos, Perceval for card fraud and 33700 for spam texts. If you lost money, call your bank first: speed matters more than the report.

The seven AnyFact detectors

AI Photo Detector AI Text Detector AI Voice Detector AI Video & Deepfake Detector AI Document Detector AI Code Detector AI Website Checker