PIT Analysis Limitations
PIT evaluates the submitted file—not every prior version, transfer, device, account, or event that may have existed.
What PIT evaluates
Depending on the file, PIT may evaluate portable provenance and Content Credentials, metadata, device characteristics, encoding evidence, asset binding, cryptographic integrity, and forensic observations.
What a result does not prove
- No generative-AI evidence found does not prove generative AI was not used.
- Camera-capture consistency alone does not authenticate a particular physical device or person. PIT currently evaluates evidence contained in or cryptographically bound to the submitted image; it does not currently accept separate identity, device-ownership, or chain-of-custody evidence to establish that relationship.
- Cryptographic integrity does not prove that the depicted scene occurred in physical reality.
- Processing evidence does not by itself establish deception or identify the specific visible change.
- No alteration evidence found does not prove the image was never altered.
- Signer validity and signer trust are separate questions.
Evidence may be lost
Messaging, social-media, cloud-export, screenshot, conversion, cropping, editing, and recompression workflows can remove or transform metadata and Content Credentials. PIT may be unable to determine whether evidence was never present or was lost before submission.
For stronger review
- Submit the original file directly from the capture device when available.
- Preserve prior versions and the original filename.
- Avoid screenshots, messaging downloads, social-platform copies, and resaving before analysis.
- For consequential matters, preserve chain of custody and obtain qualified forensic review.
Experimental evidence
Experimental observations are identified separately and do not independently control PIT's core conclusions.
PIT is an evidence-assessment tool. It is not a universal detector of truth, deception, manipulation, or generative AI.