# Finding AI-Generated Faces in the Wild

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.08577 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.08577/

## Key facts

- Cited by 8 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 25 of its 37 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 14 Nov 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 25 of 25)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10752/) (2021)
- [Swin Transformer: Hierarchical Vision Transformer using Shifted Windows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.14030/) (2021)
- [EfficientNet: Rethinking Model Scaling for Convolutional Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.11946/) (2019)
- [A Style-Based Generator Architecture for Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.04948/) (2018)
- [Analyzing and Improving the Image Quality of StyleGAN](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.04958/) (2019)
- [Axiomatic Attribution for Deep Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.01365/) (2017)
- [Towards Evaluating the Robustness of Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.04644/) (2016)
- [Progressive Growing of GANs for Improved Quality, Stability, and Variation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.10196/) (2017)
- [Xception: Deep Learning with Depthwise Separable Convolutions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.02357/) (2016)
- [Efficient Geometry-aware 3D Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.07945/) (2021)
- [Alias-Free Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.12423/) (2021)
- [CNN-generated images are surprisingly easy to spot... for now](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.11035/) (2019)
- [Leveraging Frequency Analysis for Deep Fake Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.08685/) (2020)
- [Exposing Deep Fakes Using Inconsistent Head Poses](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.00661/) (2018)
- [Detecting and Simulating Artifacts in GAN Fake Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.06515/) (2019)
- [On the detection of synthetic images generated by diffusion models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.00680/) (2022)
- [What makes fake images detectable? Understanding properties that generalize](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.10588/) (2020)
- [Are GAN generated images easy to detect? A critical analysis of the state-of-the-art](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.02617/) (2021)
- [Paint by Word](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.10951/) (2021)
- [Evading Deepfake-Image Detectors with White- and Black-Box Attacks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.00622/) (2020)
- [Exposing GAN-generated Faces Using Inconsistent Corneal Specular Highlights](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.11924/) (2020)
- [Eyes Tell All: Irregular Pupil Shapes Reveal GAN-generated Faces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.00162/) (2021)
- [Exposing GAN-synthesized Faces Using Landmark Locations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.00167/) (2019)
- [GLFF: Global and Local Feature Fusion for AI-synthesized Image Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.08615/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Detecting Multimedia Generated by Large AI Models: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.00045/) (2024)
- [Characterizing Photorealism and Artifacts in Diffusion Model-Generated Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.11989/) (2025)
- [Deepfakes and Higher Education: A Research Agenda and Scoping Review of Synthetic Media](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.15601/) (2024)
- [Synthetic Photography Detection: A Visual Guidance for Identifying Synthetic Images Created by AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.06398/) (2024)
- [Quality-Aware Calibration for AI-Generated Image Detection in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.15027/) (2026)
- [LoRAX: LoRA eXpandable Networks for Continual Synthetic Image Attribution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.08149/) (2025)
- [MSPT: A Lightweight Face Image Quality Assessment Method with Multi-stage Progressive Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.07590/) (2025)
- [Beyond Real versus Fake Towards Intent-Aware Video Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.22455/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

AI-based image generation has continued to rapidly improve, producing increasingly more realistic images with fewer obvious visual flaws. AI-generated images are being used to create fake online profiles which in turn are being used for spam, fraud, and disinformation campaigns. As the general problem of detecting any type of manipulated or synthesized content is receiving increasing attention, here we focus on a more narrow task of distinguishing a real face from an AI-generated face. This is particularly applicable when tackling inauthentic online accounts with a fake user profile photo. We show that by focusing on only faces, a more resilient and general-purpose artifact can be detected that allows for the detection of AI-generated faces from a variety of GAN- and diffusion-based synthesis engines, and across image resolutions (as low as 128 x 128 pixels) and qualities.