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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FOUND EPHEMERA + PHOTOS
ON THIS DAY = SEPTEMBER 27
BIRTHDAYS
1821 = Henri-Frédéric Amiel = Swiss philosopher, poet, and critic
“LIFE IS SHORT AND WE HAVE NEVER TOO MUCH TIME FOR GLADDENING THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO ARE TRAVELLING THE DARK JOURNEY WITH US. OH BE SWIFT TO LOVE, MAKE HASTE TO BE KIND.”
HENRI FREDERIC AMIEL
EVENTS
1905 = Physics journal Annalen der Physik publishes Albert Einstein's paper introducing the equation E = mc².
1908 = Production of the Model T automobile begins at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit.
1912 = W.C. Handy publishes The Memphis Blues, considered the first blues song.
1974 = The National Gay Task Force and other gay and lesbian activists persuade major consumer advertisers to withdraw commercials from a Marcus Welby, M.D. episode about a high school boy who is raped by a male teacher. This is hailed as the first successful protest against alleged LGBTQ defamation on American TV.
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.
2018 = Shallow, the first single from the soundtrack of the A Star Is Born remake (starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper), is released.
Fool Me Once? Shame On AI!