Between March 2024 and November 2026, 3,644 people took AI Aware’s Real or AI? quizzes. Each quiz mixes real and AI-generated images or videos and asks one simple question: which is which?
The results are sobering. On average, people scored 62% on their first try. Guessing at random would score 50%.
Key findings
- 3,644 people completed 3,681 separate quizzes between 20 March 2024 and 13 November 2026.
- The average first-try score was 62%, against 50% for pure guessing.
- 34.7% of quizzes scored 50% or less, no better than guessing.
- 18.4% scored below 50%, worse than guessing.
- Only 4.5% got every item right.
- On our hardest image quiz, the average was 49%, and 41.1% of players scored below 50%.
Results for each quiz
We run eight quizzes: one with videos, one with a mix of media, and six sets of images. This is how people did on each, counting each person’s first try.
| Quiz | People | Average score | 50% or less | All correct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Videos | 1,652 | 62.3% | 33.8% | 4.5% |
| Mixed media | 450 | 63.8% | 29.6% | 4.0% |
| Images, set 1 | 501 | 63% | 35.1% | 6.4% |
| Images, set 2 | 193 | 50.9% | 57.5% | 2.1% |
| Images, set 3 | 185 | 66.3% | 24.3% | 5.4% |
| Images, set 4 | 101 | 71.6% | 16.8% | 8.9% |
| Images, set 5 | 309 | 49% | 60.5% | 1.0% |
| Images, set 6 | 290 | 71.1% | 17.6% | 5.2% |
Video is no easier than images
The video quiz is our most popular, with 1,652 players. They averaged 62.3%, almost exactly the same as the image quizzes. Only 4.5% got every clip right, and a third scored 50% or less. Moving pictures, sound and real-looking faces did not make the fakes easier to catch.
Two image sets fooled most people
On image set 5, the average score was 49%, and 60.5% of players scored 50% or less. Image set 2 was close behind, at 50.9%. On both, a typical player would have done just as well by tossing a coin.
Even the easiest quiz was not easy
The best result was image set 4, at 71.6%. Even there, 16.8% of players did no better than guessing, and fewer than 1 in 10 got everything right.
Why AI fakes are so hard to spot
- The old giveaways are fading. Extra fingers, garbled text and waxy skin were common in early AI images. Newer tools make far fewer of these mistakes.
- Mistakes go both ways. People call fakes real, but they also call real photos fake. Real images can look staged, over-edited or simply odd.
- We see most images small and fast. On a phone screen, while scrolling, there is little time to look at the details that might give a fake away.
- Feeling sure is not the same as being right. It is easy to feel confident about an image, but our results suggest most people cannot tell reliably.
How to check if an image or video is AI-generated
- Check the source. Who posted it first, and are they trustworthy? A reverse image search can show where an image came from.
- Look for other coverage. A real event is usually photographed or filmed by more than one person.
- Look at the details, but do not rely on them. Hands, text, reflections, shadows and backgrounds can show problems, but a clean image is not proof that it is real.
- Look for content credentials. Some cameras and tools now add a record of how an image was made. If it is there, it can help.
- Use an AI detector as one signal. Our AI image detector and deepfake detector check for signs of AI generation. Treat the result as one piece of evidence, alongside the checks above.
- Slow down when it matters. Be most careful with images that make you angry, scared or excited, as these are the ones most likely to be shared without checking.
Frequently asked questions
Can people tell AI images from real ones?
Only a little better than chance. Across 3,681 quizzes, people scored 62% on average, against 50% for guessing. 34.7% did no better than guessing.
How good are people at spotting deepfake videos?
No better than with images. 1,652 people took our video quiz and averaged 62.3%. Only 4.5% got every clip right.
Is an AI detector better than people at spotting fakes?
Yes, by a wide margin. In our tests, the AI Aware detector was 99.4% accurate on images and video. The 3,644 people who took our quizzes averaged 62%. The detector looks for patterns that people cannot see. You can see how we tested it in our accuracy results.
How can I tell if an image is AI-generated?
Check where it came from, look for other coverage, look closely at the details and run it through an AI image detector. No single check is enough on its own.
Can I try the quiz?
Yes. The Real or AI? quizzes are free and take a few minutes. See how you compare with the 3,644 people who have taken them so far.
How we counted
These figures come from every result recorded on our quiz site between 20 March 2024 and 13 November 2026, 3,735 results in all.
- Each person is counted once per quiz, using their first attempt. People are identified by internet address, which is a close but not perfect stand-in for a person.
- The score is the share of items in a quiz that the person got right.
- Players chose to take the quiz, so they are not a representative sample of the public.
- The quizzes differ in difficulty, in length and in the AI tools used to make the fakes.
Using these results
You are welcome to use these figures, with a link to this page. Journalists and researchers can contact us for further breakdowns of the data.