# AI Image Limits Checklist

For the method in
[What AI Image Tools Get Wrong, and Why Detectors Don't Fix It](/articles/ai-image-limits-not-detectors).
Use as a supporting signal only - never as a verdict.

## Not for

Deciding with certainty whether a specific image is AI-generated. No checklist or detector can give you
that. Use this to organize a weak signal, and prioritize finding the original source instead.

## Step 1: Visual patterns worth a second look (weak signal only)

- [ ] Hands: extra/missing fingers, impossible poses
- [ ] Text in the image: garbled letters, inconsistent fonts
- [ ] Counting: wrong number of identical/repeated objects
- [ ] Consistency: same subject looks different across multiple images/frames
- [ ] Lighting/reflections: shadows or reflections that don't physically match

None of these alone or together prove anything. Move to Step 2 regardless of what you find.

## Step 2: Provenance check

- [ ] Does the file carry a Content Credential (C2PA)? If yes, what does it assert?
- [ ] Is there a platform AI-content label on the post?
- [ ] Does the metadata (if any) match the claimed date/location?

## Step 3: Source check (the most reliable step)

- [ ] Reverse image search performed
- [ ] Original poster/account/outlet identified
- [ ] Original date and context compared to the claim
- [ ] Independent second source found (or noted as absent)

## Step 4: Detector tools (if used at all)

- [ ] Detector name and score recorded: ______________________
- [ ] Explicitly NOT treated as the deciding factor
- [ ] Decision based on Steps 2-3, not this score

## Final decision

☐ Likely genuine, source confirmed
☐ Likely synthetic/manipulated, source confirms or no credible original found
☐ Undetermined - documented as such, not resolved with a guess

Do not delay an urgent action (like reporting harmful content) while trying to resolve "undetermined."