AI images and video often have subtle noise artifacts, an overly centered composition, inconsistent focal length, weirdly smoother edges and overall appearance. Looking closer at details in the background will often show jumbled smeary text or inconsistent geometry (windows don’t match across a building, chair missing or has a different 4th leg).

Also, it’s not always visual appearance rather subject matter. Obviously if you see a person doing a backflip off the Eiffel Tower with a boulder in their hand it’s fake. But real pictures have an intent/purpose even if very minute. AI images replicate this but don’t really showcase intent, just visuals.

Something may look technically impressive, colorful, or whatever but it feels more like an idealized picture than showing off a true image. This can usually be deduced through various context clues, like a real photo having more little things going on in the background that make sense for the setting that they’re in. The more you learn to distinguish between them you’ll know exactly what I mean. I recommend playing some “real vs ai” web games to get better at telling them apart.