TimeBinder

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Free quiz: takes about 2 minutes

Is this person real?Can you spot the AI face?

TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes. Five side-by-side portraits. In each pair, one person is a real adult and the other is AI.

Your score is worked out in your browser. Real photos are CC0 portraits of real adults. The AI faces were made for this quiz and show no real person.

Pick the AI portrait in each pair

Tap the portrait 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.

Five rounds. Two portraits each. One person is not real.

Each round shows two portraits side by side. One is a real photograph of a real adult. The other is an AI-generated face of a person who does not exist. Pick the one you think is AI, then see what gave it away.

  • The real photos are CC0 portraits from Wikimedia Commons, taken from a stock-photo site. They show real adults, so please do not use this quiz to accuse anyone, and do not assume anything about the people you see.
  • The AI faces were made for this quiz from text descriptions of invented people, not as copies of the real photographs. Sides are shuffled every time you play.

Can you tell AI faces from real ones by looking? The short answer

Often not, and in the first week of November 2026 the question was being asked about dating profiles. On 5 November 2026, USA Today reported that Hinge users are noticing AI photos, including a user whose reverse image search suggested a match had used an AI face on photos of other men. Writing on 6 November 2026, Tech Times (Vinay Patel) said that user’s TikTok video had 1.2 million views and cited a Seeking.com claim that its selfie liveness check caught 53,000 scammers in 2025, and a 2026 Singles in America finding that 34% of singles regard AI-altered profile photos as a deal-breaker. These are the outlets’ and companies’ figures, not counts made here. Autocomplete on 13 November 2026 offered “ai fake people”, “ai dating profile photos” and “is this person real or ai generated”. This quiz does not use any dating-profile photo.

Spotting by eye is unreliable. TimeBinder is not a tool for identifying generated media or for checking whether a person is real. 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 profile photo or a file you hold.

Five clues in portrait 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 person real?” question on them alone.

  1. A flawless, symmetrical face. Very smooth skin, even features and no fine lines. Real people are retouched, filtered and lit to look that way, too.
  2. Hair that is too tidy. Strands that are all crisp, or edges that never merge into the background. Real photographers also use rim light and sharp lenses.
  3. A cinematic glow. A perfect golden-hour sun behind a laughing face. Real portrait photographers chase the same light.
  4. Background text that falls apart. A chalkboard price whose small print does not resolve into real words. Real signs can be blurred or unreadable, too.
  5. A frame that looks like an advert. A calm, centred subject in a clean setting. Real stock photos and corporate headshots look like that on purpose.

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

If a portrait matters, keep a record of the original

When a photo of a person 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. CC0 does not include a model release, so the people in these photos have not been asked about this use. They are named nowhere on this page; if one of them wants a photo removed, we will remove it. Requests go to support@timebinder.io. Each AI face was generated by TimeBinder for this quiz from a text description of an invented person, not as a copy of a real photograph. Photos were cropped to a 4:3 frame. No minors and no public figures appear.

The real photographs used in the Is this person real? quiz
SubjectReal photo sourceLicencePhotographer / uploader
A woman in a caféWikimedia CommonsCC0Vinicius Amano
A studio headshotWikimedia CommonsCC0Thomas Hafeneth
A woman laughing outdoorsWikimedia CommonsCC0Priscilla Du Preez
An older manWikimedia CommonsCC0Kahar Saidyhalam
A man sitting on stepsWikimedia CommonsCC0Ron Jake Roque

Is this person real? quiz: FAQ

How does the “Is this person real?” quiz work?

You get five rounds. Each shows two portraits side by side. One is a real photograph of a real adult and one is a face 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 five rounds because the quiz has five portrait pairs, and each is used once per game.

Where do the real photos come from?

They are CC0 photographs of adults, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons from a stock-photo site, listed with the photographer and licence in the image credits table on this page. They show real people. CC0 and stock-photo licences do not include a model release, so please treat them with care: the quiz does not name the people, do not accuse anyone of anything, and we will remove a photo on request; write to support@timebinder.io. The AI images were generated by TimeBinder for this quiz from text descriptions of invented people, not as copies of the real photographs. No minors and no public figures are used.

Why portraits, and why now?

In early November 2026, several outlets reported on AI-generated or AI-edited faces in dating profiles. USA Today reported on 5 November 2026 that a Hinge user’s reverse image search suggested a match had used an AI face on photos of other men. Tech Times (Vinay Patel, 6 November 2026) wrote that the user’s TikTok video had 1.2 million views, citing the video, and cited a company claim that its selfie liveness check caught 53,000 scammers in 2025 and a 2026 survey in which 34% of singles said using AI to alter profile photos was a deal-breaker. Those numbers are the outlets’ and companies’ figures, not ours. Autocomplete on 13 November 2026 offered “ai fake people”, “ai dating profile photos”, “is this person real or ai generated” and “ai generated faces vs real”. This quiz is a visual practice test. It cannot tell you whether a profile photo is real.

Can people tell AI faces by looking?

Often not. A polished headshot with even skin and hair can be generated or simply retouched, and a candid snapshot with odd lighting can be a real photograph. Clues such as perfect hair edges, a cinematic glow or garbled small text in the background 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 profile photo is a fake?

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 portrait 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 is in the photo, who took it, 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 portrait 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.