Which Image is Real? Stone Cairn

Below are 4 images.

Only one is real. I know this because I took it myself.

My photo is of a stone cairn by a stream near Aspen, Colorado.

The other images are AI-generated. I created them using Ideogram.ai and ChatGPTChatGPT is an advanced language model developed by OpenAI, designed to understand and generate human... More.

Which one do you think is the real image? See the answer below!

The real image of the stone cairn is:

Image #3

Some clues that give away the AI images:

Here’s why — based on clear, observable clues:

🪨 1. Rock Shape and Texture

#3 (REAL):

The stones in this stack are irregular, rough, and varied — you see chips, cracks, and natural blemishes that only real river rocks have.
The coloration is mixed too: dark patches, speckles, and uneven weathering. This randomness is exactly what you’d expect when balancing actual rocks.

AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is basically when computers get smart—really smart. Imagine if your c... More (#1, #2, #4):

The stones are too smooth and uniform in shape, almost like they were sanded or generated from a template.
#1 and #2 especially look like stacks of “perfect skipping stones” with polished edges.
#4 shows some variety in tone, but the edges still have that overly rounded, manufactured look.

🌊 2. River and Water Details

#3:

The water is shallow and you can clearly see the riverbed — rocks under the water are visible, with realistic distortion and slight glare from the sunlight.
The current is uneven, flowing naturally with ripples, not repeating patterns.

AI:

#1 and #2 show rivers that look too “painted” — reflections are unnaturally smooth, lacking the chaotic textures of real water.
#4’s water has a repeating texture that looks almost patterned, another AI tell.

🌿 3. Surrounding Vegetation

#3:

The grass and shrubs along the riverbank are messy, uneven, and naturally layered — some blades overlap awkwardly, some are bent, some are out of focus.
Lighting falls inconsistently across the plants, which is exactly how it behaves outdoors.

AI:

#1, #2, and #4 all show vegetation that looks too uniform and symmetrical, with odd blurriness in places where detail should exist.
#2 especially shows a fern that looks more like a painting than an actual plant.

📸 4. Lighting and Depth

#3:

The sunlight is strong but slightly angled, creating natural shadows under the rock stack and a clear sense of depth across the river and trees.
The background trees fade into a softer blur, exactly what you’d see from a real camera lens focused on the foreground.

AI:

#4 has a slightly “flat” quality, as if depth was compressed or faked.rd — which is exactly why it feels real. You even see a touch of motion blur on the wingtips, consistent with a camera catching a bird mid-flight.

#1 and #2 have lighting that’s too perfect — evenly spread with no real falloff or variation.