Watch the pressure
- Urgency, panic, outrage, or secrecy.
- Requests for money, gift cards, crypto, wire transfers, or payment apps.
- Requests for one-time login codes or password reset codes.
Real or AI
Real or AI: Practical AI literacy for real life.
We do not detect AI. We teach people how to spot warning signs, verify sources, and avoid being manipulated.
Short answer
Look for warning signs, not certainty.
You usually cannot prove something is AI just by looking. The practical habit is to pause, inspect the source and context, verify through a trusted path, then decide what to do next.
Principle 1 You usually cannot prove something is AI just by looking. Principle 2 Look for warning signs, not certainty. Principle 3 Pause, inspect, verify, then act. Principle 4 A familiar voice is not proof anymore.
Learn the warning signs
Plain-English guides for images, text, video, voice, families, and seniors.
These pages are educational resources, not an AI detector. Each guide includes red flags, verification steps, related Real or AI pages, and reputable external resources.
Real or AI basics
How to Tell If Something Is Real or AI
A plain-English way to think about AI-generated images, text, audio, and videos without pretending there is a perfect test.
Read guide ImagesHow to Spot AI Images
How to inspect suspicious images, fake AI pictures, and viral visuals without relying on a single clue.
Read guide TextHow to Tell If Text Is AI Generated
How to think about suspicious messages, polished writing, fake reviews, school concerns, and AI-assisted text without pretending style is proof.
Read guide Video and deepfakesHow to Spot Deepfakes and AI Videos
How to slow down around AI videos, deepfakes, fake celebrity clips, altered video calls, and shocking viral footage.
Read guide Voice scamsAI Voice Scams and Voice Cloning Scams
What to do when a familiar voice asks for money, secrecy, login codes, or urgent help.
Read guide Seniors and caregiversAI Scams Targeting Seniors
Calm, practical guidance for seniors, caregivers, and families facing AI voice scams, fake emergencies, and urgent money requests.
Read guide Parents and kidsAI Safety for Parents and Kids
A parent-friendly guide to AI literacy for kids, homework, social media, deepfakes, privacy, scams, and family verification habits.
Read guide Printable planFamily AI Safety Plan
A printable family plan for AI voice scams, suspicious messages, shocking content, login codes, and urgent money requests.
Open printable planPractical red flags
Slow down when content asks for speed, money, secrecy, or trust.
Check the source
- No original source, author, date, or location.
- Only screenshots, reposts, forwarded messages, or clipped videos.
- Links or phone numbers that do not match a known organization.
Verify before acting
- Call a known number.
- Find the original source before sharing shocking content.
- Ask a trusted person when money, safety, or family is involved.
Trusted references
Reputable resources organized for real life.
The resource library organizes links for seniors and caregivers, parents and kids, teachers and students, small businesses, the general public, and technical readers.
FTC: Scammers use AI to enhance their family emergency schemesFCC: Deep-fake audio and video make robocalls and scam texts harder to spotCISA: Tactics of DisinformationNIST: Reducing Risks Posed by Synthetic ContentNews Literacy Project: Teaching About AICommon Sense Media: Parents' Ultimate Guide to Generative AIAARP Fraud Watch NetworkBBB: How to spot a deepfake and avoid scams
Visual, audio, and text clues are not proof by themselves. AI tools improve quickly, human-made content can look strange, and edited media can mislead without being fully AI-generated. Use clues as a reason to verify, not as a final verdict.
Open the resource libraryThe best AI safety habit is a verification habit.
Real or AI helps families and small teams pause, inspect, verify, and act without panic or false certainty.