Think you have a sharp eye for AI? Look again

Take a little test to see if you can spot the 'real' photos

Do you think this is an actual photo or an image generated by artificial intelligence? Credit: Yohan Wadia

Unless you’ve been living under a rock – whether in real life or the metaverse – it’s quite certain that you’ve heard about artificial intelligence and its latest, powerful iteration, generative AI.

The technology, brought to the fore by Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has had a sensational impact, conjuring up text, images and videos that look so real that it's hard to spot the difference.

This has, understandably, led to concerns from regulators to consumers.

AI-generated content is everywhere; tools to create it are available to download and, with just a few taps, literally anyone can do it.

Yes, the massive and very helpful benefits are there – quick content generation, creativity and speeding up activities, among others – and users want to take advantage of that.

At the same time, the risks are also rising. We recently came across pictures of world leaders as toddlers that were extremely convincing (at first glance, at least).

There are definitely red flags, with no concrete regulations to rein in the tech. This poses several risks, from simple pranking to more severe issues such as disinformation.

So, how much has AI blurred the lines between reality and looks-like reality? Test yourself with some images below.

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