TimeBinder

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Free quiz: takes about 2 minutes

Real or AI?Can you spot the AI listing photo?

TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes. Six side-by-side interior photos. One of each pair is AI.

Your score is worked out in your browser. Real photos are public-domain or CC0. The AI images were made for this quiz and show no real person.

Pick the AI photo in each pair

Tap the photo you think is AI-generated. You will see the answer and a tip straight away.

Takes about 2 minutes. Your score is worked out in your browser and is not tied to your name.

Six rounds. Two room photos each. One is AI.

Each round shows two photographs of the same kind of room, the sort you might see in a property listing. One is a real photograph. The other was generated by AI. Pick the one you think is AI, then see what gave it away.

  • Real photos are public-domain or CC0 pictures from Wikimedia Commons.
  • The AI images were made for this quiz. No real person appears in any of them.
  • Sides are shuffled every time you play.

Can you tell AI-staged interiors by looking? The short answer

Often not. On 19 October 2026, CBC Toronto reported that AI-staged real-estate photos were raising questions about misleading homebuyers. On 22 October, Ontario’s regulator RECO said virtual staging and other AI-modified images must accurately reflect permanent features and be clearly labelled. On 7 November, the BBC reported house-hunters saying undisclosed AI images in listings were false advertising; some used the word “housefishing”. Rightmove allows AI imagery if it is clearly labelled; the BBC saw listings without that disclosure.

Spotting by eye is unreliable. TimeBinder is not a tool for identifying generated media. A TimeBind shows only that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and that a copy you hold still matches it.

Five clues in listing photos, and why none is proof

These are the habits that showed up in the quiz. They are worth knowing, but each one fails often enough that you should never settle a listing dispute on them alone.

  1. Too clean. Even light on every surface, no cables, no scuffs, no laundry. Real listing photographers also tidy rooms, and virtual staging is designed to look that way.
  2. Missing mess. A rumpled cushion or a bag on a chair is often the real room. Generated staging tends to “reset” a space. Lived-in details can also be faked.
  3. Text and labels. A cushion that should say “NEW YORK” becomes a blank shape, or lettering turns into marks that almost read. Newer tools are improving fast.
  4. Patterns that are a little too regular. Herringbone floors, brick courses or identical stools that repeat too evenly. Real materials can also be very regular.
  5. Geometry that does not quite add up. Extra table legs, a television that sits oddly, a floor that looks painted rather than worn.

All five get weaker once an image is cropped, filtered, compressed and re-shared, which is how most people see listing photos. Where a listing uses AI imagery, the honest control is disclosure, plus a dated original of the unedited room photo when that file still exists.

If a room photo matters, keep a record of the original

When a buyer, a tenant or a platform questions a photo, an argument about how it looks goes nowhere. A better question is whether you can show the exact original and when it existed.

  1. Keep the original file untouched. Do not edit or re-save it. Work on copies. If you virtually stage a room, keep the unedited photograph of the actual space as well.
  2. Make a TimeBind when you take or finish it. Your browser makes the SHA-256 fingerprint, and the file stays on your device. TimeBinder records the fingerprint with a time on the Bitcoin blockchain.
  3. Keep the file and the Proof of Time Certificate together.
  4. Check later with the file comparison checker. A copy that still matches is the same file. One that does not match is a different file.
Make a TimeBind: first one free →

First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. An ASAP TimeBind is US$15.

What a TimeBind shows, and what it does not. It shows that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and that a copy shown later still matches its fingerprint. It does not show who made the file, who owns it, that its contents are true, or whether AI was used to make or edit it. This is general information, not legal advice.

Image credits and licences

Every real photo is public domain or CC0, which permits modification and reuse. Each AI image was generated by TimeBinder for this quiz from a text description of the same kind of room, not as a copy of the real photograph. Photos were cropped to a 4:3 frame. No real person is shown.

The real photographs used in the Real or AI? interiors quiz
SubjectReal photo sourceLicencePhotographer / uploader
A furnished living roomWikimedia CommonsCC0Jarosław Ceborski
A family kitchen with an islandWikimedia CommonsCC0NeONBRAND
A loft bedroom with a deskWikimedia CommonsCC0Gabriel Beaudry
A dining room with a chandelierWikimedia CommonsCC0Erick Lee Hodge
A home office with a wooden deskWikimedia CommonsCC0Vadim Sherbakov
A brick-walled apartment living spaceWikimedia CommonsCC0Justin Schüler

This interiors quiz is about rooms. For building exteriors, the free Real or AI? architecture quiz is a six-round practice test. It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made.

If you would rather try empty, derelict rooms, the free Abandoned places: real or AI? quiz is six rounds of real photographs against AI images (photos only: do not enter derelict buildings). It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made.

Real or AI? interiors quiz: FAQ

How does the Real or AI? interiors quiz work?

You get six rounds. Each shows two photographs of the same kind of room, such as a kitchen or a living room, the sort you might see in a property listing. One is a real photograph and one was generated by AI. Tap the one you think is AI, see which was which, read what gave it away, and get a score you can share.

Where do the real photos come from?

They are public-domain or CC0 photographs from Wikimedia Commons, listed with the photographer and licence in the image credits table on this page. The AI images were generated by TimeBinder for this quiz from text descriptions of the same kinds of rooms. No real person appears in any image.

Why interiors, and why now?

AI virtual staging in property listings has been in the news. CBC Toronto reported on 19 October 2026 that AI-staged real-estate photos were raising questions about misleading homebuyers. Ontario’s regulator, RECO, issued guidance on 22 October 2026 that virtual staging and other AI-modified images must accurately reflect permanent features and be clearly labelled. The BBC reported on 7 November 2026 that house-hunters were calling undisclosed AI listing images “housefishing”. Autocomplete still suggested those phrases on 12 November 2026. Individual posts on X about the topic had modest counts that day; the main evidence is the official guidance and the press coverage.

Can people tell AI-staged rooms by looking?

Often not, and it is getting harder. A tidy, evenly lit room can be a real listing photograph, and a lived-in room can be generated. Clues such as missing mess, too-even light or garbled text help on a still image, but they are hints, not proof, and they fade once a photo is cropped, filtered or re-shared.

Does TimeBinder tell me whether a listing photo is AI-made?

No. TimeBinder is not a tool for identifying generated media, and it cannot tell you whether AI made a file. A TimeBind shows that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and that a copy you hold still matches it. That is useful when you can say “here is this file, recorded by this time,” not when you need to know how the picture was made.

Do you store my score or answers?

Your score is worked out in your browser. This page sends a few anonymous events to our analytics, such as the quiz being finished with a score band, never your name or email.

How can I show a listing or inspection photo is the file I kept?

Keep the original file unedited, and make a TimeBind of it when you take or finish it. Later, a copy that still matches the fingerprint is the same file, and the record shows it existed no later than the recorded time. It does not show who took the photo or that the room looks the same today. Read how to prove a photo is not AI for the honest limits.

Related guides and tools

Date the original room photo before it gets copied

Add a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes: a dated, checkable record of the exact file you hold.

  1. Open the app and sign in with email or Google.
  2. Add your files. They stay on your computer.
  3. Seal them and download your Proof of Time certificates.
Open TimeBinder →

First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. See pricing.