TimeBinder

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

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

Each round shows two photographs of a city skyline, the sort you might see in a civic post, a news graphic or a 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 from text descriptions, not as copies of the real photographs or of news or stock stills. No real person appears in any of them.
  • Sides are shuffled every time you play.

Can you tell AI skyline photos by looking? The short answer

Often not, and in the past month the question has been asked about official posts and television stills, not only about generators. On 21 October 2026, Axios Kansas City (Travis Meier) reported that Mayor Quinton Lucas said city departments “don’t have to use AI slop with fake skylines,” after Kansas City Fire Department posts included incorrect buildings. On 2 November 2026, updated 3 November, RTS reported that TF1 had aired a Geneva city image bought from Adobe Stock that appeared generated: a second lake in the background, and the cathedral missing. TF1 told RTS that, at the time of purchase, nothing indicated the still had been made with AI, and that it regretted the error. On 27 October 2026, AFP Fact Check (Cintia Nabi Cabral) reported that an aerial image of Paris on fire, shared as a protest photograph, did not match the city’s layout. Autocomplete on 12 November 2026 offered “ai generated city skyline”, “ai generated cityscape” and “ai city image generator”. This quiz does not use those news images, and it does not show fires, protests or building damage.

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 news still, a stock photo or a file you hold.

Five clues in skyline 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 generated?” dispute on them alone.

  1. A city that does not quite add up. A second lake, a missing landmark, or buildings a real city does not have. Recent news cases turned on those mismatches. Real wide views can also hide or flatten familiar buildings.
  2. A reflection that does not match. Lights in the water that sit beside, rather than under, the towers that should cast them. Real still water can also distort a skyline.
  3. Windows and cranes that fail to join up. A grid that changes from floor to floor, or a crane boom that reappears at the wrong height. Real construction photos can look messy in the same way.
  4. A too-perfect plan from the air. A star-shaped park, or streets that fork and rejoin without an intersection. Real parks and grid plans can also look geometric.
  5. A cinematic waterfront or sunset crop. An invented dusk row across glassy water, or office towers under a perfect orange sky. Real travel and real-estate photographs use the same light.

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

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

When a picture of a city 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 public domain or CC0, which permits modification and reuse. Each AI image was generated by TimeBinder for this quiz from a text description of an invented city skyline, not as a copy of the real photograph and not as a copy of a news or stock still. Photos were cropped to a 4:3 frame. No real person is shown. The quiz does not use protest, fire or damage imagery, and it does not use the news stills described above.

The real photographs used in the Real or AI? skylines quiz
SubjectReal photo sourceLicencePhotographer / uploader
A midtown skyline at sunsetWikimedia CommonsCC0Michael Discenza
A city skyline across a lakeWikimedia CommonsCC0Jeff Brown
A night skyline reflected in waterWikimedia CommonsCC0Robert Bock
Office towers at sunsetWikimedia CommonsCC0Arnaud Mesureur
An aerial city at blue hourWikimedia CommonsCC0chuttersnap
An aerial afternoon cityWikimedia CommonsCC0Anthony Delanoix

If you would rather try old black-and-white photographs than city skylines, the free Real old photo or AI? quiz is a four-round practice test. It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made.

If you would rather try small, old and grass-roofed buildings, the free Earth and turf houses: real or AI? quiz is five rounds of real photographs against AI images. It cannot tell you whether a file you hold is AI-made.

Real or AI? skylines quiz: FAQ

How does the Real or AI? skylines quiz work?

You get six rounds. Each shows two photographs of a city skyline, such as a midtown sunset, a lake-front row, a night reflection, office towers at dusk, or an aerial harbour city. 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. The quiz uses empty cityscapes with no people in the frame. It does not use the news stills described on this page, and it does not show fires, protests or building damage.

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 invented city skylines, not as copies of the real photographs and not as copies of news or stock stills cited here. No real person appears in any image.

Why skyline photos, and why now?

In the last month, city images generated by AI have been used as if they were real. On 21 October 2026, Axios Kansas City (Travis Meier) reported that Mayor Quinton Lucas said city departments “don’t have to use AI slop with fake skylines,” after fire-department posts included buildings the city does not have. On 2 November 2026, updated 3 November, RTS reported that TF1 had aired a Geneva city image, bought from Adobe Stock, that appeared generated: a second lake in the background, and the cathedral missing. On 27 October 2026, AFP Fact Check reported that an aerial image of Paris on fire, shared as a protest photograph, did not match the city’s layout. Autocomplete on 12 November 2026 offered “ai generated city skyline”, “ai generated cityscape” and “ai city image generator”. This quiz does not use those news images.

Can people tell AI skyline photos by looking?

Often not. A real midtown sunset can look as arranged as an invented waterfront at dusk. Clues such as a reflection that does not match, a window grid that fails to line up, or a park with an impossible plan 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 skyline 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 skyline photograph 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, that the view is accurate, 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 skyline 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.

Related glossary entries: CC0 public domain dedication and outpainting.