real, as in “Is this a real photograph?”
(see also “fake”)
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1. TTG never uses the term “real” except in quotation marks
— and then only when quoting popular public uses of the term.
TTG does not use the term “real” to describe TTG-qualified photos, because the term means different things to different people and no single definition holds sway.
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2. “Real” is a term commonly used by the general public
. . . especially in juxtaposition with the word “fake,” as in FAQ #200.
But to avoid confusion, on this website the more precisely defined terms “undoctored” and “TTG-qualified” are used instead of “real.”
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3. For years the word “real” was disparaged by many
Its popular use — “Wow! Is this real?” — was interpreted by “those in the know” to mean that the public believed photographs can be equivalent to “reality” (they cannot be).
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4. But recently, with the boom in AI-generated content—
— and with convincing photo-like AI-generated images being created with no camera or light-recording involved—
—the term “real” has had a revival for questions about images that look like photographs.
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5. The question “Is this a real photograph?” is now popular...
. . . as a way of confirming that a photo-like image was not made with AI-GC (or, if made with a camera, does not incorporate any added AI-generated content).
But question #5 is never answered with a “Yes, it’s real” on this website, for reasons explained in #1 and #2 above.
Why do viewers ask “Is this real?”