The expert gave tips on recognizing fake photos on a dating site

With the growing popularity of generative artificial intelligence (AI), more and more fake photos are appearing on the Internet, including in profiles on dating sites. Alice Halabova, product manager of the Shotix AI service, told Izvestia on July 8 how to distinguish a real image from one generated by a neural network.

"Neural networks are not yet able to accurately reproduce small and complex details, so they are the ones that most often produce a fake," the expert explained.

According to her, unnatural elements can be noticed on the generated images: extra or stuck fingers, unnaturally symmetrical earrings, strange shape of ears or teeth. The skin in such photos looks too smooth, "plastic", and the hair may resemble ribbons or threads.

"The neural network averages textures, making the image unnaturally smooth. In addition, the person's gaze in the photo may be unfocused, and the iris of the eye may be slightly deformed," Halabova added.

The background can also give out a fake: tiles and railings "float", mirrors do not reflect what they should, and the inscriptions consist of non-existent letters.

"Another alarming signal is that the picture is too perfect, like from the cover of a magazine. When zoomed in on real photos, noise and compression traces are visible, and camera data is stored in the file properties. Neural network images usually do not have such information," the specialist noted.

If there are still doubts, you can check the picture through online editors or ask the interlocutor to take a "live" selfie. Some applications allow you to verify the authenticity of a photo using a built-in tag that shows when and on which device the picture was taken.

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On June 25, Izvestia got acquainted with the results of a study by the Russian School of Management (RSHU), which talks about the rapid introduction of AI into the professional lives of Russians. It was clarified that almost half of the respondents (48%) are already using AI tools in their work, and the majority of Russians (81%) see artificial intelligence as new career opportunities.