Hi r/fakemon - we hope you’re having a good 2026 so far! We have a couple of reminders as well as a few requests regarding AI-generated images and, most importantly, how they are reported.

First, to reiterate our policy:

AI-generated images of any kind are not allowed.

This includes, obviously, any image created entirely by typing a prompt into a large-language model, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and so on. It also includes any images created by asking any of these LLMs to redraw something that you drew or upscale something hand-drawn. If the final image output that is posted was created or modified by an LLM, then it is not allowed. You can read more about the policy in this post.

Second, regarding reporting any suspected AI-generated images, we ask the following:

If you think it's AI, report for Rule 3 and move on. Do not comment on the post or engage with the user. If you feel more detail is needed, message the mods.

There are several reasons that we are asking for this to be the norm for reporting any post going forward, but especially so for suspected AI-generated image posts, which we will go over below.

1. Sometimes, you are wrong.

On several occasions, the mod team has been able to determine with as much certainty as we can that a user who was accused of posting AI-generated Fakemon was not in fact using AI at all. We're talking speedpaints, pictures of layers, extensive posting history with consistent art, and so forth. Not every Fakemon drawn with flat color and a black outline is AI-generated! LLMs probably just copied that style from their training data.

2. Engagement leads to deletion.

When 10 people spam an AI-image poster that their post is against the rules, it is often deleted before we can action it. This often means we don't get a chance to see which user posted the image to begin with and, therefore, cannot effectively add mod notes for future reference (we give one permaban warning the first time a user posts AI-generated images).

This is why we ask that you just report and move on, and message us if you want to give more detail. If reported enough, a post will be removed automatically for review by the team later.

3. Toxicity.

The tendency to barrage suspected AI-users with comments has impacted our community and given it a reputation among some that the user base is toxic and prone to unwarranted witch hunts. Some users who were accused of AI have received threatening DMs and spammy comments on unrelated posts. This behavior is unacceptable and we will (and already have) banned users for this kind of harassment.

Even if the poster is posting AI images, harassment isn't warranted - our goal should always be to encourage traditional art creation and bring people in, not push them out. It is especialy egregious if a user who *isn't* using generative AI is accused and then harassed for it, as this pushes out potential contributors.

We dislike the influx of AI-generated "art" populating the internet as much as you all do. However, we ask that the users leave the "Is it AI?" game to the moderators.

~ ~ ~

Now, to get ahead of a few questions that we expect:

What if you're wrong and a user is posting AI-generated images, and it gets proven later?

If we receive sufficient evidence that we were wrong, we will correct our mistake and ban the user. Same goes the other way around - if a user is banned for AI when they shouldn't have been and we are shown that we made the wrong call, we will reverse the ban.

What if I think you're wrong and believe someone's work *is* AI, even though it's been approved by the moderators?

Message the mods with your case. We make no promises that it will overturn any decision unless you provide substantial evidence. "It looks like AI" is not all it takes to determine if something is AI.

Why this long post?

We felt there was a lot to address!

Thanks for reading and for understanding this request. We'll be keeping an eye on this post and are happy to answer any further questions to the best of our ability.

TL;DR: AI-generated images are still not allowed, please just report them and move on when you see them, Engaging with suspected AI images only makes it worse. Don't harass anyone over it please and thank you!

edit: reddit boomed all of my markdown ugh I fixed it