Broken Physics
AI doesn't calculate light rays; it guesses pixel values. This fundamental disconnect leads to shadows that defy the sun and reflections that show a different world.
The Two-Sun Problem
In the real world, unless you are on Tatooine, there is only one sun. This means all shadows must be parallel (or converge to a single point) and fall in the same direction.
How to Spot It:
- 1.Trace the Shadows: Draw a mental line from the object tip to the shadow tip. Do all these lines point back to the same light source? Any deviation suggests a local generation error.
- 2.Rim Lighting Mismatches: If a person is backlit (halo of light around hair), their face should be in shadow. AI often lights the face perfectly anyway, creating a "studio light" that doesn't exist in the scene.
The Mirror Trap
Reflections require a "Theory of Mind" for 3D space. The AI needs to know what the back of a shirt looks like to reflect it in a mirror. Since it generates images 2-dimensionally, it often hallucinates a new front-facing version of the person in the mirror.
Inconsistent Details
Check the jewelry, tie color, or buttons in the reflection. They frequently differ from the real object. A red tie might become blue in the mirror.
The "Vampire" Glitch
Sometimes objects simply don't cast a reflection at all, or cast a reflection when they shouldn't (like a vampire). Look for objects on shiny tables.
Material Logic
Different materials interact with light differently. Wood absorbs, metal reflects, skin scatters (subsurface scattering).
AI tends to apply a "universal gloss." You might see:
- Wet Clothing: Clothes that look inexplicably shiny or plastic-like.
- Flesh-Metal: Metal objects that have the soft texture of skin, or skin that reflects the world like chrome.
- Melting Solids: Rigid objects (phones, guns, cars) that curve or droop as if made of wax.
The Dream Room
Photographers blur backgrounds for focus; AI blurs them to hide guesswork. Behind a flawless subject you'll often find a room that couldn't exist: a grand staircase that melts into the ceiling, a door three feet tall, furniture that doesn't quite touch the floor.
Depth Consistency
In a real photo, objects at the same distance share the same blur. A sharp chair next to a blurry wall at equal depth is optically impossible.
Faceless Crowds
Distant people should lose detail, not structure. AI crowds degrade into smudged figures with missing faces or fused limbs.
Train yourself to ignore the subject entirely for ten seconds and audit the room instead. The generator spent its "attention" on the subject; the background is where it cut corners.
Field Checklist
Before you guess, run through these checks:
- 1Trace every shadow back to its light source—they must all converge on the same sun or lamp.
- 2Compare catchlights in both eyes and any reflective surfaces against the visible environment.
- 3Check mirrors and shiny tables: does the reflection match the object in pose, clothing, and count?
- 4Confirm materials behave correctly: cloth shouldn't shine like plastic, metal shouldn't look soft.
- 5Audit the background: do staircases, doors, and furniture obey architecture and gravity?
- 6Verify blur is consistent with depth—objects at the same distance must be equally sharp.