‘Hey there! Sorry about deleting the last post. Turns out, the image was made by AI.’
It’s another Tweet talking about how some folks are tricking us with fake art commissions. Also, heads up — Steam doesn’t allow AI content if you’re planning to publish your game there — be vigilant.
I got inspired to write this after seeing a really important tweet from Kenney: He shared tips on spotting game assets made by AI
AI art has gotten way better lately. It’s not as easy now to tell if an image was made by AI just by weird stuff like odd eyes or wrong fingers.
Sometimes, they even cover up the signs with extra painting or blurry stuff. So, what should you look out for?
7 ways to spot AI Art:
1. Artifacts — Typical AI-made stuff might have too many lines, odd-looking eyes, or a blurry finish. Check out this example — the lines around the armpits don’t need to be there, the eyes are weird, and the whole image has this weird blurry cursed AI feel to it.
It’s a bit difficult to spot in a sharp anime-like style, but there often will be lines leading to nowhere, things connecting weirdly, or inconsistency in light direction:
2. Speed can be a giveaway. Usually, a super-experienced god-tier artist takes a day for a medium-difficulty piece (take into consideration that only super-motivated or crazy-skilled folks can do it this fast, and only sometimes, not like they can pull an artwork a day every day of the week). But for most digital painting commissions, it’s normal for it to take a week, two, or more, especially for detailed pieces.
If someone claims to do five commissions a day, or even a week, that’s suspicious.
3. Lack of consistency in the painting style. The versatility of an artist is different from the lack of consistency in the portfolio. I kid you not, when recruiting artists I’ve received portfolios made entirely in Midjourney.
If your eye is not skilled enough to detect that easily, look out if the art style keeps changing a lot between pieces, or if some parts don’t match. Some artists using AI try to cover their tracks by painting over some parts. Blurry or weirdly textured backgrounds are also a sneaky way to hide AI bits.
4. Sketchy timelapses. Scammers are getting better and they know we are now verifying the painting process. I’ve seen some really weird timelapse videos.
Scammers often show a ‘sketch’ that looks perfect but is traced from a final picture. Then they speed through basic colors straight to a finished piece — they do this by erasing layers to reveal the finished work below.
5. Check the layers. If you are asking for a commission, ask for the PSD file and check the layers. Also, ask for in-progress work, sketches, and different color versions. Real artists won’t have a problem sharing those. Some people might be hesitant to share the full .psd but screen recording of going between layers should do the job. You can then ask your friendly neighborhood artist if this makes sense.
There’s no specific number of layers that works, but if you only get a sketch and a final piece without anything in between, or if the artist doesn’t accept changes be cautious. Here’s an example of a legit and very beautiful timelapse— pay attention to pose changes in the beginning and color explorations in the meantime:
6. Popping out of nowhere — An artist randomly appearing on the stage out of nowhere in the last year can be suspicious. As with everything, it’s not always fishy, especially for NSFW artists suddenly appearing after years of being pros. They might use brand-new social media accounts if they don’t want to be traced in the SFW world. But remember that pro artists should guide you through the art creation process.
7. Try using AI image detectors. There are many on the market and new ones are appearing all the time, but so far, TheHive.ai’ seems to work pretty well!
But cheaters know about these tools and can trick them if they alter or paint over the image. Still, they often slip up.
In my tests, among 20–30 images of shady ‘artists,’ I usually find 2–3 that are almost entirely made by AI without any added overpaint. Sometimes, these detectors give false positives, so don’t trust them blindly (for now). Rather take into consideration a mix of the points from above.
AI art is cool tech, but we’re not at a place yet where we can use it ethically without controversy. In the current state, there’s no fair use possibility. Could this change in the future? I think so. The demand shows there’s a need, but for now, there are ethical concerns we can’t ignore.
Until then, use with caution!
