this post was submitted on 20 May 2025
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A reverse image search brought me exact results from as early as 2013, which is long before A.I. was creating images like this. I agree that something looks off about the image, and it's definitely enhanced in some way, but I don't believe it to be A.I. generated.
The enhancement you describe I believe is image compression artifacts
I believe you're right. The image itself is pretty low quality, at least on my end, and I think that adds to the confusion.
But it isn't. That's what is completely baffling about these accusations. They're often made from a misunderstanding of the source material and an assumption that it must then be edited in some regard.
It isn't touched up. This is just a flat image of a baby seal. Seal skin has a weird quality to it that makes it look slightly blurry and incredibly soft. I would know considering they sell seal pelts at the grocery store here where I'm from. Combine that with a touch of motion blur from the seal moving and at first look it might look odd but taking a closer look that disappears. Even the eyes one might go "Bit cartoony" but then you zoom in and realize the blue is reflection from the scrubs everyone has around them.
This is simply just a picture. No editing was done. I weep for humanity when we're incapable of saying "I don't know" or "I wonder why" and just default to "it is definitely enhanced".
I am not saying you specifically edited the image, but there may have been some brightening or color contrast adjustment at some point, which is what I meant when I said "enhanced". At the very least there may be some image compression from the many times the same image has been shared since 2013... In which case I suppose that would be "dehanced".
Not that there anything wrong with editing or "enhancing" images. All professional photographers do it in one way or another, and it has been practiced since the early days of photography.
I think it is important for people develop critical thinking skills in order to differentiate between A.I. and non-A.I. images. Far too often I have seen people believing the most absurd things are real. There is nothing wrong with people calling it out when they see something that doesn't look or feel right— even if, as is the case here, we are wrong in our assumptions.
This is how we learn.