How to tell if a photo is AI, and how to prove yours is real.

What people look for

These are the usual tells. They are worth a look.

• Hands and fingers. Extra, missing or merged fingers, or hands that bend the wrong way.
• Text and signs. Lettering that turns to nonsense on shop signs, number plates and labels.
• Reflections and shadows. Mirrors, windows and shadows that don’t agree with the rest of the scene.
• Repeated textures. Brickwork, leaves, fabric or crowds that repeat in a pattern that is too regular.
• Too-clean backgrounds. Surfaces with no dust, wear or clutter, and edges that melt into the background.

But they are not proof. Current generators pass most of them, and a careful AI edit to a real photo shows none of them at all. Tools that score an image as “likely AI” give you a guess, not proof, and they can be wrong in both directions.

The other way: proof instead of guessing

Instead of asking “does this look real?”, ask “can this be proven real?”

A photo taken in the free RIALITI Capture app gets a public record. Anyone can check any copy of it for free at check.rialiti.io, even after WhatsApp has shrunk it.

An AI image has no record, so it traces back to nothing. A real photo that was later edited with AI no longer matches its record. Either way, it can’t be proven real.

How it works between two people

Three steps for each side. Neither of you needs an account.

If you’re sending the photo

1. Install RIALITI Capture. It’s free on Google Play.
2. Take the photo inside the app. Only photos taken in RIALITI Capture get a public record.
3. Send it anywhere. WhatsApp, a listing, an email. The record travels with the photo.

The photo travels however you like: WhatsApp, a listing, an email.

If you’re receiving it

1. Ask for a photo taken in RIALITI Capture. It’s free for the person taking it.
2. **Upload it at check.rialiti.io.** Any browser, any phone. No app needed.
3. Read the answer. It tells you whether the photo traces back to a real capture, and when it was taken.

What the answer means

• A match means the photo is a real capture from a phone camera, not edited, and taken on the date shown.
• An AI image, or a photo edited with AI, traces back to nothing. It has no record to match, so it can’t be proven real.
• It doesn’t tell you what’s outside the frame or whether the scene was staged. A photo with no match proves nothing either way, so ask for one taken in the app.

When this matters

Anywhere a photo decides what happens next.

• Selling or buying a used car. Car photos a buyer can check before the trip. Read the used car guide.
• Buying used in India. Two-wheelers, cars and phones on OLX, Instagram and WhatsApp groups. Read the India guide.
• Watches, phones, rentals, pets, insurance and disputes. The same steps work for any photo that has to be believed. See RIALITI.

Questions