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Which Image is Real? Sunrise on the Mighty Mississippi

Below are 4 images.

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

My photo was taken at sunrise on a foggy morning near the Audubon Center at Riverlands along the Mississippi.

The other 3 images are AI-generated. I created them using Ideogram.ai and ChatGPT.

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

The real image of the sunrise is:

Image #3

Some clues that give away the AI images:

🍃 1. Leaf and Branch Detail

  • Real (Image #3): The trees have natural asymmetry and just the right amount of chaos—some branches are bare, some have a sparse scattering of leaves, and everything is slightly lopsided (as it should be).
  • AI (Images #1, #2, #4): These trees look too full or too perfect. In #2, the branches are overly dense and round like stylized lollipops. In #1 and #4, there’s a mirrored look to the main trees—something AI often does for balance.

☁️ 2. Sun and Light Behavior

  • Real: The sun in #3 is subtle—partially diffused by the fog, not perfectly round, and glowing just enough to be realistic.
  • AI: In #1 and #4, the sun is a flawless golden orb—like someone placed a sticker in the sky. It looks dramatic, but not like real foggy light.

🌾 3. Foreground Messiness

  • Real: In #3, the ground and grasses are imperfect—some patches are dark, some are textured, and there’s uneven growth. It’s a little chaotic, which is exactly what real fields look like.
  • AI: The other images have overly smooth or repetitive grass. #1 and #4 especially look like the same terrain cloned across the bottom edge.

🌀 4. Atmospheric Layering

  • Real: In #3, you can see the fog gradually obscuring the trees the farther back they are. There’s a sense of real depth.
  • AI: Images #1, #2, and #4 often keep all the trees at similar clarity or make them fade unnaturally. #2 has odd spacing between trees—like they were arranged for a brochure.

In the winter months, the Audubon Center at Riverlands is one of the best places to view Bald Eagles. You’ll often find them dotted among the trees near the center and swooping down to catch fish out of the Mississippi near the dam. Check out this short video about the Eagle Days events the Center holds in January:

More From the Senior Tech Cafe ‘Real or AI?’ Challenge

You can check out our archive of ‘Real or AI?’ challenges here.

Senior Tech Cafe Team
Senior Tech Cafe Team
Articles: 220

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