Brushstrokes or Algorithms? Here’s How to Spot AI-Generated Art

AI-generated art has exploded into the mainstream, bringing with it awe-inspiring creativity (and plenty of controversy, too). With just a few clicks, anyone can now produce stunning, polished images that resemble art styles from oil paintings to anime, often blurring the line between human craftsmanship and machine-generated mimicry. This new frontier is especially visible in viral trends, like the flood of Studio Ghibli-style portraits made using AI. As AI becomes more deeply embedded in creative spaces, artists, viewers and tech enthusiasts alike are grappling with what this means for the future of art.

At the heart of the conversation is a simple but urgent question: how can we tell the difference between AI art and human art? To find out, we’ll explore the rapidly evolving world of AI image generation, discover how to spot AI’s often subtle fingerprints, and reveal what you can do to protect your creative work from machine learning models. After all, in a world where anyone can make art with an algorithm, understanding how we got here (and where we’re going next) is more important than ever.

Studio Ghibli-Style Madness and Virtual Product Placement: AI Art Today 

In March 2025, ChatGPT released an update that included an image generation feature. While image generators are not a new technology, users soon discovered that ChatGPT’s was exceptionally adept at transforming real photos into Studio Ghibli-inspired illustrations.

In a matter of days, the internet was swept into a whirlwind of dreamy, Studio Ghibli-style creations. With just a single reference photo, users can now generate whimsical, pastel-tinted portraits of themselves, their pets or even their favorite memes that appear to be straight out of a Hayao Miyazaki film. The results are often adorable, charming and impressively close to the real thing. And that’s exactly what has people talking.

While many users view this new feature as nothing more than a fun toy, it’s also reigniting some of the most pressing debates in the art world:

• Who (if anyone) owns the style of Studio Ghibli?
• How is AI-generated art different from human-created fan art?
• What happens to human illustrators whose livelihoods rely on commissions from customers who may now turn to AI instead?

But the rise of AI-generated images has done more than spawn a flood of charming (albeit ethically questionable) Ghibli-inspired art. It’s also quietly opened the door to a new kind of virtual manipulation, this time in the form of post-production product placement. Content creators and production houses can now inject branded logos and products into scenes after the final cut, without the need for costly reshoots or paid digital artists. Want a soda can in the hands of a character mid-dialogue? AI can insert it into the scene like it was always there.

You may have already seen AI-generated product placement without even realizing it. For instance, in this episode of the podcast AsianBossGirl, a Garnier Fructis poster can be seen in the background. That poster wasn’t added until after the episode had already been filmed: 

For obvious reasons, this type of effective, low-cost technology is extremely appealing to brands and content studios alike. Entire companies are already based around AI-powered product placement. One of the most prominent is Rembrand, which specializes in spatially aware AI and is responsible for the Garnier poster shown above. 

In a world where nostalgic art styles can be summoned in seconds, and corporate influence can be added to any scene at any time, the line between human-made and machine-generated art is blurring faster than ever. That’s why developing a sharp eye has become an increasingly vital skill. In the age of AI art, knowing what’s real and who really made it is no longer just a question of taste, but of truth.

What Counts as AI Art? 

Before we can talk about spotting AI art, we have to answer a deceptively simple question: What even is AI art? The line isn’t as straightforward as you might think.

Let’s say a traditional painter creates a massive canvas by hand, but uses an AI tool to generate a small, ornamental detail—perhaps a background pattern, or a single object that’s then painted over and reworked.

Is that AI art? Most people would probably agree that it’s not. In cases like these, the AI acts more like a reference tool or assistant than a creative force. But what if that AI-generated detail becomes the focal point? What if the painting relies on that one generated element to deliver its core message?

This is where things get murky. The more AI contributes—not just in quantity but in creative direction—the harder it becomes to separate the machine from the maker. The grey area is vast, and it’s growing exponentially.

But for most practical conversations, a simple working definition will suffice: AI art is artwork that’s created either entirely or mainly using artificial intelligence. In other words, the idea, style and even composition were primarily driven by generative models, rather than human hands. Whether it’s a fully rendered image from a text prompt or a heavily AI-assisted collage, if the machine is steering the creative wheel, it probably fits the label.

Still, as artists begin to blend analog and digital methods in increasingly subtle ways, it’s clear that the definition of AI art isn’t just about tools—it’s about authorship, intent and transparency.

No Such Thing as a Dead Giveaway

When AI art generators first burst onto the scene and became available to the public, it didn’t take an art critic to tell something was wrong. In those days, even the most impressive AI-generated images were full of dead giveaways that made them easy to differentiate from human-created art. The uncanny valley was wide, and AI fell into it often.

Some of the most common early giveaways included:

• Too many fingers: Human subjects often sported six, seven or even more fingers on a single hand (see the viral photo above for proof—posted by Miles Zimmerman on X in 2023, it now has over 3.2 million views).
• Abnormal teeth: Smiles were filled with distorted, melted or far too numerous teeth.
• Strange eyes: AI often struggled with eye alignment, and sometimes produced mismatched gaze directions or strangely shaped pupils.
• Warped hands and limbs: Limbs would bend in impossible ways, or hands would be jumbled clusters of digits.
• Mangled text: Any signs, books or product labels in the background of an image would be filled with gibberish instead of legible words.
• Unnatural poses: Characters would sometimes be stuck in stiff, mannequin-like stances that didn’t follow normal anatomy or movement.
• Blended objects: Items in close proximity would sometimes morph together. For example, a cup might be fused with a hand, or two nearby animals might merge into one hybrid creature. 

But fast forward to today, and things have changed—a lot. AI models have become far more advanced in a relatively short amount of time, and the glaring mistakes of yesterday are now few and far between. In fact, many of those obvious signs are simply gone without a trace. That means if you want to separate AI art from human-made work, you’ll need to train your eye to pick up on less apparent clues.

Here are some of the newer, more subtle hints to keep an eye out for:

• Unrealistically vibrant colors: AI art often leans toward oversaturation, producing dreamy, too-perfect palettes that feel more synthetic than stylized.
• Suspiciously smooth skin: AI-generated tends to have airbrushed skin that lacks texture, pores or other human characteristics.
• Shiny surfaces: For one reason or another, AI image generators seem to gravitate toward shiny surfaces. So if a subject’s hair, skin, eyes and clothes are all noticeably reflective, it could be AI-generated.
• Eerily perfect symmetry: Human artists rarely create faces or compositions that are perfectly balanced, but AI often does—almost too well.
• Inconsistent lighting: Look for shadows and highlights that don’t quite line up with the rest of the scene. Also, look for perfect ambient lighting that lacks an obvious light source.
• Missing or floating details: Jewelry that hovers just above the body’s surface, glasses without earpieces or hair that blends into the background a little too smoothly.
• Emotionless or vacant expressions: Even when a face looks anatomically correct, it might feel slightly off, like it’s posing rather than feeling.
• Too-good-to-be-true compositions: If the scene looks flawlessly cinematic or perfectly Instagram-ready without a single flaw or oddity, it might be AI.

As AI art becomes more refined, so too must our way of seeing. It’s no longer about spotting the freaky fingers—it’s about tuning into the mood, texture and intention behind an image. Because the more invisible AI becomes, the more critical it is to know what it looks like.

AI Detection Tools: A Game of Cat and Mouse 

As AI image generators have become more powerful and accessible, a new class of digital tools has emerged in response: AI detection tools. These programs are designed to analyze images and determine whether they were generated by a human artist, an AI model or a combination of both. In theory, they act as a digital forensic team by sniffing out the fingerprints of machine-made art.

Some of the most widely used AI detection tools include:

• Sightengine: An advanced tool that analyzes the pixels of an image to guess if it’s AI-generated, so it works even if an image’s metadata or watermark has been removed.
• WasItAI: An affordable tool that uses its own algorithms to attempt to identify AI-generated images.
• Hive Moderation: Offers automated content moderation and image classification, including detection of AI-generated visuals.
• AI or Not: A straightforward tool that uses machine learning to guess whether AI or a human made an image.
• Illuminarty: A Chrome browser extension that scans images online and attempts to identify AI-generated content in real-time.
• Sensity AI: Initially built to detect deepfakes specifically, this toolset has expanded to include various types of AI-generated media detection.
• Deepware Scanner: Focuses on identifying manipulated or synthetic content, including deepfakes and AI artwork.

While these tools are becoming more refined every day, they’re also locked in a constant game of catch-up. As AI image generators evolve and improve at a breakneck speed, detection tools have to evolve just as rapidly if they want to stay relevant. That endless cat-and-mouse race means no AI detection tool can ever offer 100% accurate results, despite what some may claim.

So while AI detection tools can be helpful for raising red flags or offering insight into how an image might’ve been made, they’re not foolproof, and they should always be followed up with more thorough investigation. A clean bill from a detector doesn’t mean an image is definitely human-made, and a false positive doesn’t automatically prove it’s AI-generated. In short, these tools provide another lens to look through, but they don’t (and can’t) provide the final word.

In the end, human observation, contextual analysis and critical thinking are still needed to complete the picture.

How to Protect Your Art 

If you're an artist who’s navigating the ever-shifting terrain of AI-generated imagery, you’re not alone, and you’re far from powerless. As AI art tools become more widespread and increasingly capable, many artists are understandably concerned about their work being scraped, studied and used to train models without their consent. The good news? There are proven steps you can take to defend your creative works.

For instance, emerging tools like Glaze, Nightshade and WebGlaze, all developed and offered by the University of Chicago, are designed specifically to help artists protect their works from AI model training.

• Glaze subtly alters your artwork in a way that’s nearly invisible to the human eye, but confuses AI models trying to analyze or copy your style. 
• Nightshade goes a step further by “poisoning” image data to disrupt how AI learns from the art it ingests.
• WebGlaze is a free, browser-based version of Glaze.

These tools aren’t silver bullets, and no solution is foolproof yet, but they’re a promising start. And as AI continues to grow increasingly popular and sophisticated, we’re likely to see more defenses like these pop up.

But what if you’re not opposed to your art being used by AI models in exchange for fair compensation? If that’s the case, you might also consider uploading your work to ethics-focused AI art platforms like Tess. Built with artists in mind, Tess allows you to share your creations in a controlled environment where you actually get paid whenever your artwork is used to create AI art. It’s a forward-thinking alternative that makes it possible to participate in (and even profit from) the evolving tech landscape without giving up control of your work.

Finally—and perhaps most importantly—always strive to be transparent. If you’re using AI as part of your creative process, just say so. There’s nothing wrong with leveraging AI as a tool—it’s just another medium, like charcoal or Photoshop. But being honest about it protects your credibility, builds trust with your audience, and helps move the conversation forward in a thoughtful, more ethical way.

Build a Brighter Future for Creatives in the Age of AI Art

AI art is here, and it’s not going anywhere. From Ghibli-style portraits flooding our social media feeds to seamless product placements popping up in post-production, the landscape of visual creativity is changing quickly, and it’s not likely to stop anytime soon.

But this isn’t just about tech; it’s also about ethics, transparency and respect.

If we want to build a future where AI and human creativity can coexist, it starts with understanding the ethical concerns AI art raises. That means recognizing when AI is being used irresponsibly—whether through stolen training materials or deceptive media—and choosing to instead support ethical AI models that respect artists’ rights.

It also means protecting your own art with tools like Glaze and Nightshade, and exploring platforms like Tess that put creators first. And above all, it means being honest. If you use AI in your creative process, be up-front about it. Transparency doesn’t diminish your work—it adds integrity to it.

By making thoughtful choices and advocating for responsible practices, we can shape an art world where technology empowers artists instead of replacing them, and creativity isn’t lost to automation, but enriched by new tools and fresh voices.

AI may be part of the future, but how we use it is still entirely up to us.

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Written By

Carrie Buchholz

Carrie Buchholz is a freelance writer who lives in Northern Colorado with her husband and dog.

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