AI art detection
AI art detector — check whether an image was created by an AI model.
Drop in an illustration, digital painting, or stylized image to check whether it was generated by Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL·E, or a similar model — distinct from realistic-photo detection.
Last reviewed 2026-05-10 · See methodology
About this check
What AI Art Detector actually does.
The AI Art Detector is tuned for the case where an image is meant to look stylized rather than photographic — illustrations, digital paintings, NFT artwork, and concept art. Generative models like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and DALL·E leave different artifacts in stylized output than in photorealistic output. This page focuses on those specific markers.
How it works
- 1Brush-stroke and texture analysis catches the soft, repeating fills typical of diffusion-rendered art.
- 2Composition symmetry checks flag the almost-too-balanced framing common in prompt-driven generation.
- 3Color-and-edge coherence catches blended boundaries that human painters and illustrators rarely produce.
When to use it
Real situations this page is built for.
- Reviewing an artist's portfolio that may contain AI-rendered submissions.
- Verifying NFT or marketplace listings claiming hand-made artwork.
- Filtering AI illustrations from a design or stock-art submission queue.
Limitations
Hybrid workflows — a human painting refined by an AI pass, or an AI render touched up by hand — sit between categories and produce noisy scores. Use as one signal alongside provenance from the artist.
Related checks
Honest scope
What this detector does not do.
Naming the gaps explicitly so the score is interpreted in context.
- Whether the photo depicts a real event — only the image artifacts.
- Which AI model generated the image, if synthetic.
- Whether the photo is of a specific real person (use face recognition for that).
FAQ
AI Art Detector questions
How is AI art detection different from AI image detection?
AI image detection is tuned for photorealistic generation. AI art detection looks at the artifacts that appear in stylized output — brush strokes, fills, and composition — which are not the same signals as photo-realism cues.
Can it tell which model made the artwork?
Not reliably. The model used (Midjourney vs Stable Diffusion vs DALL·E) leaves subtly different patterns, but generations across models overlap and shift quickly between releases.
What about pixel art or low-resolution styles?
Lower resolution strips signal. The detector works best on higher-resolution illustrations where the rendering has room to leak its origin.