I keep seeing freelance designers send clients Midjourney and ChatGPT stills that look expensive in the generator and cheap on Instagram.

Same five tells, every time:

1. Plastic skin and identical lighting

2. Type that was never designed, just dropped

3. Composition with no edge — everything centered, everything equally loud

4. Color that is “cinematic” and also nobody’s brand

5. Details that almost make sense (hands, jewelry, storefronts)

AI can regenerate 1 and 5 if you write one tight prompt. 2, 3, and 4 need a human in Canva for 8 minutes.

If you are shipping client social this week, diagnose the image before you send the proof. Do not regenerate ten times hoping taste appears.

I keep seeing the same three things on AI-made social posts. They're not taste. They're tells.

1. Everything is equally sharp. Real photos have a subject and a background. AI lights the whole frame like a product catalog.

1. Type sits on the image like a sticker. No margin system. No weight contrast. Just a bold sans slapped in the middle.

1. The color palette is "pretty" and dead. Teal-orange, pastel gradients, that same warm film look. You can scroll for 30 seconds and see it 12 times.

If two of those are true, the post will get skipped even if the idea is good.

Fix order: pick one subject, crush the rest. Give type a grid. Steal a palette from a printed magazine, not from Midjourney.

That's the diagnosis I built AI Design Doctor around. One post in. Specific notes out. Not a vibe check.