Which is the Real Image? Barcelona Bakery

Below are 2 images.

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

My photo is of the mouth-watering display case of a bakery in Ciutat Vella, or Barcelona’s Old Town.

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 bakery is:

Image #4

Some clues that give away the AI images:

🍞 1. Pastry Variation and Imperfection

#4 (REAL):

The pastries in the lower case show natural differences in size, shape, and texture — some have uneven powdered sugar dusting, others show signs of slight over- or under-baking.
You can spot gaps between some of the items, and the layout feels casual — like it was done by a busy human, not a graphics engine.

AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is basically when computers get smart—really smart. Imagine if your c... More (Images #1, #2, #3):

#1’s croissants are carbon copies, stacked in exact lines — no cracks, flake variation, or slouching.
#2 and #3 both feature donuts and pastries arranged with robotic precision. The donuts in particular are suspiciously identical in swirl pattern, frosting distribution, and spacing.
In all three, there’s a perfection and symmetry that doesn’t happen when real people stock a real bakery.

💡 2. Lighting and Display Case Reflections

#4:

The lighting is uneven but believable — the left side is slightly brighter, and you can see the realistic reflection of ceiling lights on the glass.
The metal frame on the case has minor wear and inconsistencies, and the LED case lighting casts shadows that match the shelf angles.

AI:

#1, #2, and #3 feature flawless, studio-like lighting — soft and too perfectly diffused across every item.
In #2 and #3, the reflections on the glass don’t quite line up with the actual contents or angles, a common tell in AI-rendered glass.
#1’s case has overly clean lines and zero environmental reflections or texture on the surface.

🧁 3. Shelf Clutter and Background Realism

#4:

The top shelf shows wrapped baked goods with realistic variation in packaging shapes, and you can see the cluttered, imperfect setup — some items leaning, others tightly packed.
The background includes wall signage, a service area, and a pastry label on the back wall — all slightly out of focus, exactly as you’d expect in a real photo.

AI:

#1’s jars on top are positioned with design-magazine perfection, and the candies are evenly spaced and eerily uniform.
#2 and #3 show jars and stands with suspiciously perfect candy and bakery items — even the lollipops and gumballs lack variation.
In all AI images, the environments are too clean and staged — they lack the imperfections and randomness of real-life retail spaces.

🥐 4. Texture and Material Details

#4:

There’s noticeable variation in pastry surface textures — shiny glaze here, dry flaky layers there, slightly uneven chocolate coverage elsewhere.
The reflection on the countertop shows slight distortion and lighting inconsistencies you’d expect from a real glass curve.

AI:

The uniformity in cake swirls and frosting in #2 and #3 borders on uncanny.

#1’s donut holes look like they were cloned and airbrushed.

#2 and #3 include baked goods with unnatural gloss or dough texture — like someone described a croissant to an AI but never showed it one.