TimeBinder

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Free quiz: takes about 2 minutes

Mushrooms: real or AI?Can you spot the AI mushroom?

TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes. Six side-by-side photographs of mushrooms and fungi. In each pair, one is a real photograph and one is AI. Never forage or eat anything based on a photo.

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 mushroom photos each. One is AI.

Each round shows two photographs of a mushroom or fungus in a natural setting. One is a real photograph. The other was generated by AI and shows an invented mushroom, not a real species. Pick the one you think is AI, then see what gave it away. This is a picture-spotting game only: never forage or eat anything based on a photo.

  • The real photos are CC0 photographs from Wikimedia Commons, 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 mushroom photos from real ones by looking? The short answer

Often not. Mushroom photos are shared widely in foraging groups and on social media, where a picture is sometimes treated as an answer to “is this safe?”. 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 mushroom 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. Perfect symmetry and evenly spaced spots. Caps, dots or gills that repeat more evenly than real growth. Real mushrooms can be very regular.
  2. Texture that is too tidy. Needles, leaves or water droplets placed neatly around the subject. Real forest floors are messy, but some are tidy.
  3. A cinematic scene. Golden mist, glowing edges and a soft forest behind. Real morning light can be dramatic.
  4. Repeated shapes in a group. Caps and stems of the same size and angle. Real clusters often look alike.
  5. One perfect subject. A single clean mushroom in the middle with nothing else going on. Real macro photographers do this on purpose.

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

Every real photo is a CC0 dedication on Wikimedia Commons, which permits reuse and modification. The AI images were generated by TimeBinder for this quiz from text descriptions. They show invented mushrooms and are not records of any real species or individual. 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. All image metadata (EXIF) was removed from both sides. Do not use any of these images to identify a mushroom, and never forage or eat anything based on a photo.

The real photographs used in the Mushrooms: real or AI? quiz
SubjectReal photo sourceLicencePhotographer / uploader
A bracket fungus on a treeWikimedia CommonsCC0Slick
Small mushrooms in the woodsWikimedia CommonsCC0Benjamin Balázs brenkee
A mushroom among autumn leavesWikimedia CommonsCC0Roberto Arias rariasg
A mushroom in pine needlesWikimedia CommonsCC0Tania Alieksanenko broken_statue
A red mushroom with white flecksWikimedia CommonsCC0Siska Vrijburg picturesis_
A tiny mushroom on mossWikimedia CommonsCC0Michael Fertig michaelfertig

If you would rather try something from the ground, the free Real crystal or AI? quiz is six rounds of crystal and mineral photographs. It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made.

Mushrooms: real or AI? quiz: FAQ

How does the Mushrooms: 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 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, 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.

Are the AI mushrooms real species?

No. The AI images show invented mushrooms made for this quiz. Some resemble familiar kinds, such as a red cap with white spots or a bracket fungus, but they are not photographs of any real species and must not be used to learn what the real species look like.

Can I use a photo to tell whether a mushroom is safe to eat?

No. Never forage or eat anything based on a photo. A photograph, real or AI-generated, cannot show whether a mushroom is edible, and many poisonous kinds look like edible ones. This quiz is a picture-spotting game only. If you forage, use an expert in your area.

Why this topic?

Mushroom photos are shared widely in foraging groups and on social media, where a picture is sometimes treated as an answer to “is this safe?”. 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.

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.