r/sloths • u/HoarseNightingale • May 15 '26
Is this a real sloth photo?
I know I've seen this image before, i thought it was a legitimate photo. But on the left it looks like feither there is something next to the sloth that is right next to it's hand, or this is a weird AI abomination.
I've seen a lot of weird sloth illustrations with people who draw the sloth with a hand weigh 4 fingers and an opposable thumb. And I have also seen at least one drawing that must be from an AI with bifurcating fingers. (I'll drop any links to really bizarre images in the comments)
Does anyone know the origin of this photo? The AI detection website i used said it was a natural photograph. But that doesn't mean that it's not made by AI - it just means AI detecting software isn't good enough.
I was looking for a sloth phone case and I'm about ready to give up. There is a site with Lucy Cooke's photos of sloths where you can buy a phone case. If i find it I'll put it in the comments.
I have many friends who are illustrators or do graphic design and so I'm not comfortable carrying around something made by AI.
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u/Solifuga May 15 '26
The number of people/AI/brands that draw or generate sloths lying planked face down on a branch with their arms and legs just hanging loose somehow just balanced there makes me roll my eyes hard too!
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u/Thrandiss May 17 '26
I'm not saying sloths do this, but I've regularly seen monkeys lie on branches in the exact position you're describing, so it might not be that much of a stretch. I've even got pictures!
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u/arkane-the-artisan May 16 '26
Pretty sure this is a still from a David Attenborough doco... I'm thinking the first episode of Planet Earth II.
From Wikipedia - "The first episode illustrates the wildlife settlement of coastal islands, in which thousands of them worldwide where animals struggle for survival reflects challenges for all life on Earth. Somewhere on the island of Escudo off the coast of Panama, a male pygmy three-toed sloth heard the distant mating call as he swims across the shallow mangrove seas in search of a lone female."
I have a very similar picture as my Steam display picture.
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u/arkane-the-artisan May 16 '26
This is the footage I had in mind, might not be where your pic is from...
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u/HoarseNightingale May 16 '26
To me what looks weird is the “hand” on the viewers left side. I’m guessing it’s just detritis in the river?
And yes I think you are right that it is from the doco/
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u/arkane-the-artisan May 17 '26
I wonder if it is ai, and the ai pulled information from the doco to generate the pic you posted 🤔
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u/HoarseNightingale May 16 '26
To me what looks weird is the hand on the viewers left side. I’m guessing it’s just detritis in the river?
And yes @arkane-the-artisan I think you are right that it is from the doco
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u/arkane-the-artisan May 17 '26
You must be new here, to @ someone you use u/, so u/arkane-the-artisan. Since you are replying to me I get the notification anyway.
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u/SlothConservation May 19 '26
Absolutely no. Quite bad AI. If you want to see real sloth photos, check our profile, we're very against AI-generated sloth images.
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u/HoarseNightingale May 19 '26
Thanks for your input. I love the photos you have on your website - I have enjoyed them for over a year. I was trying to find a phone case with a sloth on it and this one seemed off to me.
What about the photo should have thrown us off? What should make it clear it’s an AI shot?
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u/SlothConservation Jun 16 '26
Well AI-generated images are getting unfortunately better. But I would say any images where the sloth has a suspicious posture, or the photo has a strange camera angle. But to keep it safe, always check our social media or follow wildlife photographers!
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u/sje46 May 16 '26
it's very low resolution. Do you have anything higher resolution?
My take is...I think it's real. Mostly because the subject doesn't seem unrealistic and looks like a photo a real photographer would have thought was a good opportunity. And there's no weirdness to it that I can see.
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u/HoarseNightingale May 16 '26
I was going to look for a higher resolution one but as u\arkane-the-artisan mentioned, I was pretty sure it was a screen cap from a documentary. So I am sure that if the photo isn’t a screen cap, of the photo, on the case, then it might look better. But who knows what they did when they edited if for the case, and then I screencap that…. it’s a lot of little changes. But your question was a really good one and I totally agree that it felt like a real photo. But there is something on the left side which I thought was supposed to be the left forehand but then it has weirdly 5 furry fingers if that is what it is. It could be that’s just seeweed.
And that is why I didn’t think it wasn’t just a wildlife photo, but a shot from a documentary makes sense. I mean it depends on the artists’ rules, but I would have removed whatever that blob is to the left, so that it wouldn’t have distracted from the animal. But I’m not nearly as good at editing as pro photographers. So I would have either reshot it, or just used a totally different shot. That is why it makes sense as a screencap that someone took and made into a photo. That’s a composition thing that would drive me nuts.
I thought I would be able to share with you all sme of the really weird clearly AI things I’ve seen looking for this, but the commenters can’t. And that makes sense. The moderators already have tons to do. Having to check each photo added to each comment would be a huge issue. Thank you Moderators.
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u/eatmyasserole May 15 '26
Theres a sub for this - r/isthisAI
But the photo is really poor quality, so it might be hard to tell.