TimeBinder

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Abandoned places: real or AI?Can you spot the AI ruin, factory or deserted house?

TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes. Six side-by-side photographs of empty, derelict buildings. In each pair, one is a real photograph and one is AI. Photos only: please do not enter derelict buildings. They can be unsafe and are often private property.

Your score is worked out in your browser. Real photos are CC0 or public-domain photographs. 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 abandoned-place photos each. One is AI.

Each round shows two photographs of an empty, derelict building: houses, stairways, factories and overgrown ruins. One is a real photograph. The other was generated by AI. Pick the one you think is AI, then see what gave it away. Photos only: please do not enter derelict buildings. They can be unsafe and are often private property.

  • The real photos are CC0 or public-domain photographs from Wikimedia Commons, including a 1973 photograph from the US National Archives, listed with photographer and licence at the bottom of this page. No real people are shown, and no logos or brands are used.
  • The AI images were made for this quiz from text descriptions, not as copies of the real photographs. Both sides were cropped to the same shape. Sides are shuffled every time you play.

Can you tell AI abandoned-place photos from real ones by looking? The short answer

Often not. Videos of AI-generated “abandoned place found” and “ruin restoration” stories are drawing hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, and people in abandoned-places communities have asked each other to tell their own photos from AI copies. This quiz uses only empty buildings, no named or famous ruins, and no people. Photos only: please do not enter derelict buildings. They can be unsafe and are often private property. This quiz uses no news photo, no real person and no named brand. It is a practice test only.

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. This quiz cannot check a photo you found online or a file you hold.

Five clues in abandoned-place 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 “is this photo real?” question on them alone.

  1. Decay spread too evenly. Peeling paint, cracks and rubble covering every surface in the same way. Real decay is patchy, but it can also be thorough.
  2. A textbook composition. One building centred in an empty landscape under a perfect sky. Real photographers frame shots like this on purpose.
  3. Repeated details. Rows of windows or banister rails that look nearly identical. Real buildings repeat things too.
  4. No everyday clutter. No wires, poles, signs, parked vehicles or later additions. Real photographers often crop those out.
  5. An old-film look. Faded colour and grain can be generated. Real old film photos often have strong colour casts.

All five get weaker once an image is cropped, compressed and re-shared, which is how most people see photos online. If a photograph matters later, the stronger record is the original file and when it existed, not a guess from the way it looks.

If a photo matters, keep a record of the original

When a photo is questioned, an argument about how it looks goes nowhere. A better question is whether you can show the exact original file and when it existed.

  1. Keep the original file untouched. Do not edit or re-save it. Work on copies.
  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

Each AI image was generated by TimeBinder for this quiz from a text description of an invented building, not as a copy of the real photograph or of any real place. No real people, readable signs, brands or logos are shown. Real photos are CC0 dedications or public-domain works, listed with their licence in the table below, and both permit reuse and modification. Real photos were cropped to a 4:3 frame, and the AI images were cropped to the same shape, so image size and shape do not give the answer away. Some real photos were cropped to remove a number plate, signs or museum labels. All image metadata (EXIF) was removed from both sides. One AI image was converted to black and white to match a real black-and-white photograph.

The real photographs used in the Abandoned places: real or AI? quiz
SubjectReal photo sourceLicencePhotographer / uploader
An abandoned brick buildingWikimedia CommonsCC0Baltimore Heritage from Baltimore, MD, USA
An abandoned rural houseWikimedia CommonsCC0Iago Felipe de Souza
A stairway in a deserted houseWikimedia CommonsPublic domainArthur Greenberg
An overgrown roofless houseWikimedia CommonsCC0Wilfredor
An abandoned factoryWikimedia CommonsCC0Indy beetle
An abandoned brick worksWikimedia CommonsPublic domainNyttend

Abandoned places: real or AI? quiz: FAQ

How does the Abandoned places: real or AI? quiz work?

You get 6 rounds. Each shows two photographs side by side. 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. There are 6 rounds because the quiz has 6 photo pairs, and each is used once per game.

Where do the real photos come from?

They are CC0 or public-domain photographs from Wikimedia Commons, including a 1973 photograph from the US National Archives, 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, not as copies of the real photographs. Both sides were cropped to the same 4:3 shape and stripped of metadata so that size and shape do not give the answer away. No real people are shown.

Why this topic?

Videos of AI-generated “abandoned place found” and “ruin restoration” stories are drawing hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, and people in abandoned-places communities have asked each other to tell their own photos from AI copies. This quiz uses only empty buildings, no named or famous ruins, and no people. Photos only: please do not enter derelict buildings. They can be unsafe and are often private property. This quiz is a visual practice test. It cannot tell you whether a photo you found online is real.

Can people tell AI photos from real ones by looking?

Often not. Clues such as odd lettering, over-smooth texture, too-perfect symmetry or a very tidy composition help on a still image, but they are hints, not proof, and each one also appears in real photographs. They fade once a photo is cropped, filtered or re-shared.

Does TimeBinder tell me whether a 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.

Should I go and visit places like these?

Please enjoy them as photos only. Do not enter derelict buildings: floors, stairs and roofs can collapse, and they are often private property. This quiz does not name or locate any of the buildings.

How can I show a 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 it, how it was made, or who holds the copyright. Read how to prove a photo is not AI for the honest limits.

Related guides and tools

Date the original 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.