Do real photos show English singer-songwriter Sam Smith in 2016 and 2025? No, that's not true: An AI detection tool determined both images were 99.9% likely to be AI-generated. The images show Smith with noticeably different appearances, but neither depicts the singer as they actually looked in those years.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) by the @Misifu72 account on X on Sept. 20, 2026. Translated from Spanish, it read:
Sam Smith is the perfect example of what it means to sell your soul to the devil. Literally.😈
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @Misifu72 on X.)
The post also included a video of Smith performing his song "Unholy" while dressed as a devil and carrying a pitchfork. This is what a screenshot of the video in the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @Misifu72 on X.)
AI detection
The Hive Moderation AI-Generated Content Detection tool (archived here) concluded that the image said to show photos of Smith in 2016 and 2025 was 99.9% 'likely to be AI-generated':
(Image source: Hive Moderation.)
"2016" image
This part of the AI image of Smith appears to be based on a photo on the Getty Images website (archived here) from his Feb. 28, 2016, appearance at the 88th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California:
(Image source: photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage via Getty Images.)
"2025" image
The second portion of the AI image also appears to be based on a photo from the Getty Images website (archived here), but not from 2025. It is from his Dec. 15, 2022, appearance at the iHeartRadio Power 96.1's Jingle Ball in Atlanta:
(Image source: photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for iHeartRadio.)
AI vs. originals
Putting the AI-generated images side by side with the originals, Lead Stories observed differences in lighting, shading, and proportions that exaggerated differences in Smith's appearance over the years:
(Image source: post by @Misifu72 on X; photos by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage via Getty Images and Paras Griffin/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)
