How do you tell if an image is real or AI? ＋
Zoom in on text, hands, jewellery and backgrounds, where AI images often blur or repeat. Check that the light and shadows agree with one source. Look for visible watermarks, such as the Gemini sparkle. Then run the original file through an AI image detector, which reads the pixels and any C2PA Content Credentials or metadata.
Where do the quiz images come from? ＋
Every image comes from Wikimedia Commons, where the uploader recorded the AI generator or the camera. The AI images are public domain. The photos are under Creative Commons licences and are credited after each answer and in the credits list on this page.
Is the Real or AI quiz free? ＋
Yes. The quiz is free, needs no signup and does not save your answers. Each round draws 10 images at random from a set of 20, so you can play again and get different images.
Which AI generators are in the quiz? ＋
The AI images were made with Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, Stable Diffusion XL, Google Gemini (Nano Banana), GPT Image 1 from ChatGPT, Adobe Firefly, Grok and Ideogram.
Can an AI detector tell real from AI better than people? ＋
Often, because a detector reads pixel-level traces people cannot see. It is not perfect either: one real food photo in this quiz was flagged as AI-edited by a detector in our own test. Use a detector score as strong evidence alongside your own checks, not as proof.
