TimeBinder

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Real or AI?Can you spot the AI painting?

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

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

Pick the AI picture in each pair

Tap the picture 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 wildlife photos each. One is AI.

Each round shows two photographs of the same kind of wild animal, the sort you might see in a sighting post or a nature feed. 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 paintings by looking? The short answer

Often not, and in the past six weeks the question has been asked as a public test as well as a research finding. On 30 September 2026, Hindustan Times published a “real art or AI creation” challenge inviting readers to spot imposters among famous paintings. On 15 October 2026, Psychology Today (Travis Tae Oh) reported a survey of 202 U.S. adults in which accuracy was 45% among definite answers; that is the figure from that survey, not a general-population claim. Autocomplete on 12 November 2026 still offered “ai or real painting quiz”, “ai vs real art quiz” and “ai vs real picture test”. Individual X posts we read in the preceding month were modest, which we disclose: @rpmm24 on 23 October had 800 impressions and 43 likes; @kelilahlx on 24 October had 652 impressions, 13 likes and 8 retweets; @Christo55 on 11 November had 784 impressions and 1 like; @noahreeveshq on 12 October had 221 impressions and 4 likes.

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 paintings, 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 an authorship or “is this generated?” dispute on them alone.

  1. Postcard colour. Candy-pink sunset clouds, complementary wildflowers, or a perfectly gold sunburst down a valley. Real impressionist and romantic landscapes use the same palette.
  2. A rustic, catalogue still life. A candle beside a brown jug, or fruit on a bright checked cloth. Real studio tables are often staged the same way.
  3. A tidy compositional device. Birch trunks on one side and sky puddles in a lane, or a centred wave crash with no headland. Real watercolorists and marine painters use those devices too.
  4. Missing mess. No fruit on the table, no birds over the water, no deer at the shore, no awkward crop. Generated scenes often reset the set. Real paintings also leave things out.
  5. A cinematic light effect. A single candle, a backlit river, a heavier grey cloud bank. Real oils are full of the same theatrical light.

All five get weaker once an image is cropped, filtered, compressed and re-shared, which is how most people see pictures of paintings in a feed. If a scan or a photograph of a work matters later, the stronger record is the original file and when it existed, not a guess from the way it looks.

If a scan or a photograph of a work matters, keep a record of the original

When a picture of a painting 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

Every real work 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 a similar subject, not as a copy of the real painting and not as a copy of another specific famous work. Images were cropped to a 4:3 frame. No real person is shown.

The real works used in the Real or AI? art quiz
SubjectReal work sourceLicenceArtist
A floral still-life paintingWikimedia CommonsPublic domainHenri Fantin-Latour
A fruit still-life paintingWikimedia CommonsPublic domainSamuel Peploe
An autumn landscape paintingWikimedia CommonsCC0Maritess Sulcer
A lake-and-mountain landscape paintingWikimedia CommonsPublic domainHenri Duhem
A rocky seascape paintingWikimedia CommonsCC0Constantin Westchiloff
A mountain valley landscape paintingWikimedia CommonsPublic domainAlbert Bierstadt

If you would rather try photographs of plants and flowers than paintings, the free Real or AI? plants quiz is a six-round practice test. It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made.

For a different kind of craft, the free Blown glass and glass ornaments: real or AI? quiz puts real photographs of glass beside AI images, six rounds. It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made.

Real or AI? art quiz: FAQ

How does the Real or AI? art quiz work?

You get six rounds. Each shows two pictures of the same kind of subject, such as a floral still life, an autumn landscape or a rocky seascape. One is a real painting, photographed from a public-domain or CC0 work, 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 paintings come from?

They are public-domain or CC0 works from Wikimedia Commons, listed with the artist and licence in the image credits table on this page. The AI images were generated by TimeBinder for this quiz from text descriptions of similar subjects, not as copies of the real paintings and not as copies of other specific famous works. No real person appears in any image.

Why art and illustration, and why now?

On 30 September 2026, Hindustan Times published a “real art or AI creation” challenge inviting readers to spot imposters among famous paintings. On 15 October 2026, Psychology Today (Travis Tae Oh) reported a survey of 202 U.S. adults in which accuracy was 45% among definite answers; that is the figure from that survey, not a general-population claim. Autocomplete on 12 November 2026 still offered phrases such as “ai or real painting quiz”, “ai vs real art quiz”, “ai vs real picture test” and “ai vs real art comparison”. Individual posts we read on X in the preceding month about real-versus-AI art were modest, which we disclose with the links on this page. This quiz is a visual practice test. It is not a tool for checking a file you hold, and it cannot tell you whether a painting or a photograph is AI-made.

Can people tell AI paintings by looking?

Often not. A formal still life on a white cloth can be a real nineteenth-century painting, and a tidy birch-lined autumn path can be generated. Clues such as postcard colour, a candlelit rustic jug or a backlit sunburst help on a still image, but they are hints, not proof, and they fade once a picture is cropped, filtered or re-shared.

Does TimeBinder tell me whether a painting 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 painting or a scan 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 painted the work 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 file 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.