Well, hello, friends! It’s Wednesday. Time for your afternoon tech know-how. Showing one advertiser a day is how we keep this newsletter free! Be sure to support today's sponsor, TotalAV. Five of your devices (or your loved one's devices) protected for $19? Yes, please! You won't find a better deal anywhere — I saw to that!

⌛ Quick tip: Still carrying a physical wallet stuffed with cards? Switch to a digital wallet like Apple Pay or Google Wallet. Not only is it convenient, but it adds an extra layer of security to your transactions. Just tap your phone, and you're good to go! I keep a $20 bill in my phone case for emergencies, btw. — Kim

In a world where AI is spreading faster than political jabs at a family barbecue, sussing out authentic images from digital imposters has become trickier than ever. First, we battled Photoshop, and now we can’t even trust if the person talking in a vid is real!

But fear not, for I’m here to help you navigate this pixelated wilderness. Let’s look at the seven telltale signs an image is AI-generated.

7 signs that should make you say ‘Hmmm’

1. Perfect symmetry: AI takes symmetry to a whole new level. You’ll know it when you see it because everything looks unnaturally balanced — to the point that you could fold an image in half and it would be perfectly mirrored on both sides. Landscape photos and close-up shots are prime candidates.
2. Distortion: There’s usually a little wonkiness or distortion hiding in an AI image. Look at the faces in a crowd; chances are you’ll find someone who looks like they went for a swim in an oil painting.
3. Unusual proportions: Objects might seem too big or small, like cars as tall as homes or doorways too tiny for anyone to squeeze through.
4. Shadows and light: Real-world photos play nice with the laws of physics, but AI? Not so much. Shadows tend to go in all directions.
5. Unnatural textures: AI has a way of making textures appear suspiciously flawless (and we’re not talking about your skin with that Instagram filter). Images might appear too smooth, with no natural textures or color variations. On the flip side, it can have the opposite effect; hyper-realistic portraits with zoom-worthy wrinkles, pores and blemishes are also a thing.
6. Watermarks: Most free AI image generators stick watermarks onto their creations. You’ll usually find them in the bottom right corner in the form of a logo or text pointing to the site or app.
7. Weirdness: While AI continues to improve, there’s still a trace of the bizarre. Look for oddities like strangely shaped features, too many fingers or accessories that don’t match. It’s always the small things!

Tools you can use

If you’re still feeling iffy about an image’s origin, I’ll leave you with a few AI detection tools that caught my eye. They’re also free. Score!

• AI or Not: Simply drag and drop, upload, or paste an image URL into the search bar, and AI or Not will tell you if it's legit.
• Maybe's AI Art Detector: Pretty much the same as AI or Not, but it will give you the AI verdict in percentages (e.g., “20% human and 80% artificial”).

Oh, and don’t forget about our old friend, Google’s reverse image search. If Google returns with the same image from credible sources, chances are it's real. But if it points you to an AI site, you might want to sound the alarms. Here’s how to check on iPhone and Android.

✅ Over on my site, I’ve got one more trick only the pros know: Inspect the metadata embedded in the image itself. I’ll walk you through it.

😂 In every koi pond of four or more, at least one is always fake. You’ve got koi A, B, C and then the D koi. (Oh, that was so bad, it was good!)

Cybercrime and scams are hitting higher numbers than ever. Millions of dollars are lost to identity theft every year. It’s more important than ever to protect yourself online.

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Pay $1 per year to tweet: Elon Musk says the Not A Bot program should stop scammers on X. It requires a $1 payment for any new, unverified accounts, and it’s being tested now in New Zealand and the Philippines. Pay up to post or interact with others. Good point from one user: “All the bots I'm coming across are verified.” Oops.

🗃️ Update WinRAR: Google found a flaw in the free file-management tool, WinRAR. Russia and China-backed hackers used it to target crypto and stock traders. The exploit has been fixed, but you need to update if it’s on your computer. Do it now.

Not fake news: YouTube is launching a full-on news hub to show more vids from reliable sources. No, it doesn't mean misinformation is going away, but at least it's a step in the right direction for the internet's second most popular search site. Google is No. 1.

🙈 Nosey no more: You can now block Instagram from collecting your data when using other apps and websites. Wait, didn’t we do this dance with Facebook, like, a decade ago? Anyway, pop into your account and look for Activity Off-Meta Technologies to switch off sharing.

Every morning, brush your teeth to my Daily Tech Update. You get fresh breath and fresh tech know-how in a minute.

Choose your platform below to listen:

No more email: Need to transfer photos, vids and docs from your Android device to a Windows PC? Forget email. Use the new, free Google Share. Works great!

🔖 Bookmark this: You want to print the content on a site but not the ads and junk. Drop the URL into PrintFriendly.com. You’ll get a clean, print-ready PDF.

Redacted: If you ever send a password to a colleague, family member or friend in a chat or text, delete the message after they’ve copied it. There are more secure ways to share a password, but let’s be honest: Everyone shares them this way (even me!).

❓ Have a question for me? Drop it right here, or leave me a voicemail at 602‑381‑8200 ext. 290.

Need short, catchy copy for a website, presentation, social media post or anything else? Microcopy has you covered. Search or sort by category (headlines, error messages, slogans), click to copy, then paste wherever you want. So nice to have help like this that doesn’t call in sick or is a pain in the butt.

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🤓 If you didn’t check out our sponsor in today’s newsletter, be sure to do that now. It’s a great product you need to protect your phones, laptops and more!

Thanks for letting me in your inbox. I love to get your questions about what to buy, how to make money online, how to get things done or whatever. Drop me a line here. I read every note. I aim to please with the best tech newsletter on the planet! — Kim