Verification field guides
Make an AI-image finding someone else can actually check.
A useful finding should survive the question “How do you know?” Give the next person the source, the inspected file and the precise observation—not only your verdict.
Start with this six-part note
Use the following structure for your own review. It works for a surprising celebrity photo, an editorial submission or a creator’s disputed export. Fill missing fields with “not available” rather than silently guessing.
- Claim: the exact statement being investigated, including the relevant date or place.
- Source: original post or page URL, uploader as displayed and your access date.
- File: original, download, screenshot or crop; filename and a stable hash if you recorded one.
- Checks: tool, date, relevant settings and the observed result.
- Interpretation: the narrow conclusion the evidence supports.
- Open questions: the missing original, independent source or confirmation needed next.
Write observations that travel well
Prefer “the inspected PNG contains this saved prompt field” to “the person definitely used this tool.” Prefer “an earlier page contains the same frame” to “I found the first-ever upload.” These phrasings retain what was observed while leaving room for additional evidence.
If results conflict, record the conflict. Do not average a signed record, a caption and a detector score into an unexplained certainty number. They answer different questions.
Make the record reproducible and private
Keep unmodified originals separately from marked-up copies. If you share your note, remove private contact details, location records and access tokens from public attachments. A hash can help identify a file without publishing the file itself, though it is not proof of how the file was created.
For a practice run, use the controlled examples in the Image Metadata Lab. Compare your notes with the documented result before applying the same process to a consequential real-world claim.
Put the next question to the file.
Choose the supported tool that fits your question. Keep the original source and save the output with your notes. Frame extraction, file-record inspection and still-image checks answer different questions; none alone authenticates a complete video or its audio.
Our methodology explains supported checks and result limits. Found a factual error or a newer primary source? Use our corrections process and include this article’s URL.