Once upon a time, I thought I was pretty sharp at spotting fake photos and digital fabrications.
After countless hours spent poring over vintage images, analyzing pixels, and absorbing the nuances of history, art, and life, I considered myself a better-than-average amateur—if not a professional—at detecting fakes.
A true “fauxto” expert, if you will.
So, imagine my horror when I woke up to a comment from a sharp-eyed subscriber—shoutout to Mr. Hutchinson—confirming my worst fear:
A vintage photo I believed was “original” (and was sure I’d seen “in the wild” before) wasn’t just “uprezzed” for better resolution. No, it was completely fake. Just another AI-generated vintage “fauxto.”
Maybe you’ve already spotted the missing finger on the younger guy. Clearly, I need to start counting fingers and toes like a new parent—or just accept that I can’t trust anything I see anymore.
AI-generated images have become scarily good. Really, really good. Sure, they still botch the occasional hand or foot, with extra limbs or unsettlingly smooth faces cropping up now and then. But overall, they’ve gotten so sophisticated that even trained eyes—like mine—can be deceived.
Here’s the kicker: I wasn’t fooled by some obvious glitch or glaring digital artifact. I fell for it because the image felt familiar. It triggered something in my brain, convincing me it was an authentic photo I’d encountered before, something that belonged in my mental catalog of historical images.
With all the upscaling and photo restoration these days, I’ve grown accustomed to seeing blurry, low-res photos brought to life with sharper resolutions, richer details, and higher contrast.
So, when I came across this image, I didn’t think twice. “It’s just a cleaner version,” I told myself. But nope—it was nothing more than a clever AI creation, faking history, faking reality, and, most alarmingly, fooling my eyes and brain.
I knew this day would come, but I didn’t expect it to be today. Or whenever I first stumbled across this image and added it to a montage.
At this point, I don’t even trust my own eyes. I knew the lines between reality and AI-generated art were blurring, but I was confident I could still spot the difference.
We used to say, “Seeing is believing.” Now? Believing isn’t so simple. The very thing I’ve relied on for so long—my visual intuition—has been compromised.
And my brain let it happen!
So, where does that leave me? Honestly, I feel both amused and disoriented.
On one hand, I was tricked because I wanted this handsome duo to exist. On the other, it’s unsettling to realize just how easily I can be duped. It feels like a betrayal by my own brain.
Isn’t it part of my job to separate truth from fiction? To spot when something’s off? Well, I thought so. But here we are—AI fauxtos so good/bad that even when they miss a digit, my brain fills in the gaps and waves away the red flags.
What’s frustrating is that this isn’t just a personal issue—it’s a larger, societal one.
AI-generated images are everywhere, and they’re only going to get better (or worse, depending on your perspective). From deep-fake news to deep-fake porn, how do we navigate this brave new world where the digital and the real are nearly impossible to tell apart?
How do we, as creators, curators, or just people who love visuals, distinguish between the authentic and the fake?
I don’t have all the answers yet, but I will be looking at images with a renewed level of skepticism. Even as someone who appreciates the beauty of AI-enhanced art and photography, this experience has been a stark reminder that not everything is what it seems. In fact, this probably isn’t even the first time I’ve been tricked.
So yeah, thanks, AI. You’ve officially made it harder for me to trust my own eyes.
And thanks, brain, for going along with it.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to second-guess every image I’ve ever seen.
Thanks for reading…and subscribing!
Clint
P.S. Have YOU been fooled by an AI image too? If so, let’s start a support group! 😎✌️
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1994 = Réal Ménard, a Montreal representative of Bloc Québécois, becomes the second MP to come out when he tells reporters that he is “speaking for the community” to which he belongs when he protests the televised statements of another member of Parliament, Roseanne Skoke of Nova Scotia, among which is the claim that “this [gay and lesbian] love, this compassion, based on an inhuman act, defiles human-ity, destroys family … and is annihilating mankind.”
2002 = Writer, filmmaker, photographer, and artist Charles Henri Ford dies in New York City, at the age of 94.
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So, all my fantasies about "My wild & raunchy son" (by Josman) all of a sudden went to hell... 😭😭😭... All because of a little finger!!! I was so eager that the situation could be real that I didn't notice it could be IA.
Maaan, they got me!! If you could see when I first saw it... I blushed, my heart started pounding fast, my pupils dilated, I felt a sudden warmth in the middle of myself, as if my prostate was about to explode giving birth to a white and shiny rainbow. I am 55, but in my youth I was the fantasy of quite a few men and women... well, more than a few... I mean that I have taken advantage of my adolescence and youth, and enjoyed it...🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ And now a thing called IA makes me feel things as if I was a teenager🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️.
Well, I am following you because that is how you make me feel 🤷🏻♂️.
All my love, which is a lot ☺️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
In Spain we say IA as well as AI. In any case I call it Artificiencia Intelectual
Totally makes sense. Even to this Dumb American. 🌈✌️
I studied just enough Spanish that I figured it out.
Makes total sense. Cheers!
Thanks, Jose. You sound like a hoot...in the best way possible. Sorry the AI/IA ruined your little fantasy, but glad you have all those other memories to look back so fondly on. Maybe you should start your own Substack and tell all about it. :-)
Cheers, love, and light to you and yours!
Ha! That's crazy because someone asked in the comments if they were father/son, and I went back to look at it and was like Yep, definitely, and now I see that missing finger too and hoo boy, the good times with AI are rolling now... ;D
Good times indeed! I’ve seen some fauxtos you’d swear were just pealed out of an aging photo album, complete with scratches and dust. Crazy how good the generators have gotten in just the last few months.
Ah my dear friend, I don't think you should be so hard on yourself. We're all part of a world that is going at a much faster pace and yet we're still using only about 3% of our brain's capabilities. Plus, I'm pretty sure you have yourself on a self-inflicted deadline each day and do so on very little sleep. After a while, sleep deprivation alone is enough for someone to miss things visually. I should know, I've been there, I've done that. Now that I'm retired, I have more time for sleep, but if I forget something or miss something visually, I have to blame it on old age. Take my advice, don't get old. As Bette Davis once said, "Old age is no place for sissies". Sometimes, life is a bitch.
Oh, you slay me, Mr. Hutchinson...and you have my number. I'm a wee bit driven to make stuff and enjoying the hustle-bustle of juggling the Shop, Substack, and YouTube. That said, I'm about to go take a siesta...and revisit work later. Thanks for the Bette Davis quote. She knew a thing or three. Cheers.
Mr. Collide, the "uncle-and-nephew" photograph fooled me, too, although it did look a bit too pretty. The smaller man, who we were to assume is younger, I suppose, has a torso that is too mature for his face. I say that only after knowing the photograph is artificial. Please be assured that your "Fauxto montage" displayed a month or so ago has helped me understand the stealth with which such artificiality can enter our minds. Your work here is righteous.
. Additionally, many of the photographs help us who are just average andy feel better about our family jewels. Even after many gang showers in school and the U.S. Army, I feel better seeing that most men keep their reproductive equipment tucked away when it is not in use, as opposed to the performers who are more visually impressive. Incidentally, a urologist told me that being tightly built serves men well later in life, when the voluptuous guys have problems of one kind or another. Thank you for showing us photographs of guys whose feet are more interesting to look at than their fun parts, and that is not derogatory toward feet.
. - Best wishes.
Thanks, Sam. I'm not surprised. Mostly amused how easily I fell for it. I've met a few guys who look like the young man and have the torso of a much older man...perhaps my personal Kryptonite? lol
As an average, but chubby dude, I used to have lots more hangups about my body. But then I had a chance to work with some truly beautiful men and women in the world and discovered they have the same self-image issues as everyone else. Some way worse. Same for the otherwise gifted...fun to look at but comes with its own set of problems.
Cheers!
I'm sorry to burst your bubble!! But you can rely on more and more AI images and videos! Why?? Because the attorneys in society have come out of the back room. Privacy has become a codified entity in the U.S. and international Zeitgeist! **IT HAS TO!** because parents can't show their children's faces anymore in photos or videos 1) Human Trafficking. 2) Protection of privacy for minors (remember, legally minors **CAN NOT CONSENT** to **A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G**!!). As for the adult population, you now have to receive consent from them to show their physical representation let alone exhibit their faces (even in the background). The use of AI will only serve to help enhance privacy for the broader public, influencers won't have to walk around with a stack of legal disclaimers and releases of liability forms. Over time though, getting back to legal disclaimers, laws will be passed in relative short order, requiring picture and video producers to disclose what has been made using AI!!!
Be well,
John Maxwell
Thanks for your pov, John. The courts will be grappling with AI for decades. At least. Not just from the valid privacy angle, but a multitude of copyright and trademark issues. It's already pretty messy. Trying to keep up with some of it as I see value in the tools, when used responsibly. But...not everybody defines words the same way. Pandora is out of the box. Now we gotta figure out the best way to make friends. At least that's my approach.
Oooh Clint lets give you a bid old cyber 🫂🫂🫂 the number of rants from me about AI and I hadn't spotted it either. I do view via a 10" tablet screen so I don't pour over your offerings, unless it's that obvious. Maybe repost that YT I sent ya on SS or even YT to get the point across and for guys to savvy up about AI tomfoolery. The 🇺🇸 has the biggest battle on the Presidential elections coming up and how many AI fucks ups will it take to start a new Civil War. We 🇬🇧 had our share post General Election of Social Media/AI tomfoolery. So just make sure your voting for the real thing and not....,. Cheers DougT 🇫🇴
Cyberhugs back atcha, Doug. I'm mostly amused/frustrated cuz I knew it would happen. Just wasn't ready for it to happen so soon. Or already. In such an obvious way. I look at these images on a 5K 27" monitor I sit in front of...but if I was so sure it was the real deal I didn't even consider the possibility it was anything but uprezzed. DOH! I'm sure I'll do it again...and again. Oh. Well. As for the election, anyone stupid enough not to know which direction to vote is too stupid, in my opinion, to be helped. I get not liking BOTH "sides" but one is clearly worse than the other. And if it's not clear, I've got some swamp land to sell you in Florida. lol
😆😂🤣 mind you it'll be even swampier now that hurricane Helena has arrived.