Metadata Analysis for Image Edit Detection

This module inspects image metadata to detect possible signs of AI-generation or post-processing edits.

Overview

Many AI-generated images and edited images leave identifiable traces in their metadata.
This detector scans image EXIF metadata and raw bytes for known AI generation indicators and common photo editing software signatures.
It classifies images as "ai_generated", "edited", or "undetermined" based on detected markers.
Handles invalid image formats gracefully by reporting errors.

Opens the image from raw bytes using the Python Pillow library (PIL).
Reads EXIF metadata and specifically looks for the "Software" tag that often contains the editing app name.
Checks for common image editors such as Photoshop, GIMP, Snapseed, etc.
Scans the entire raw byte content of the image for embedded AI generation identifiers like "midjourney", "stable-diffusion", "openai", etc.
Returns a status string indicating the metadata classification.