Secret locations are a thing of the past!
It was off by 175 miles. Got the state and general region of the state correct. It guessed Baudette, Minnesota.
To be honest I never understood the appeal or sharing events of your life publicly, ie with total strangers. With friends and family, certainly. But beyond this, it is weird.
Interesting. Did you strip out the metadata before uploading/using that…tool?
I didn’t, because I don’t attach any location data. I didn’t consider time zone could be used. Even with that restriction, the image could be anywhere in the upper Midwest, including Canada, to me.
I would never have been able to reduce it further than you either. Thats why I asked. 175m off is still surprisingly good considering what there is to work with. Time/Date + weather conditions+tree types. Maybe variation in sky tones giving an idea of sun angle (which is surprisingly good at narrowing down lat/lon if you know the time and date) If this is viewable from a road maybe indexing on streetview photos…
It used tree types and weather conditions. It was taken well after dark on an overcast night, ambient light from the nearby small town off the overcast.
I uploaded a second one with no data, about two miles from the first with no snow, and it already knew where I was from the first. It got even closer based on the type of signage at a rural railroad crossing. Since I’ve used ChatGPT for other types of amusement, it may very well have an idea about where I’ve been.
I can’t do another today without paying them.
Thanks for indulging us with real world tests that are not as easily dismissed as some “popular”, or populated(?), location.
People love to share other peoples lives/events with seemingly equal abandon.
I worry about the proliferation of such tools given the shear volume of visual data that is uploaded every second. But I was born an agry old man who enjoys yelling at the kids to get off my lawn.
They must have also consumed every street picture on gmaps right? Not to speak of public user pictures on reviews and so on.
Since I don’t maintain an intentional social media presence, my images might be more difficult to identify. I share very few. My photographic hobby is about 99% within walking distance of my door, and my current door is now quite a long way from that old door, so I’m not as reluctant to use those. But I do think if I had a photographic presence from the previous home the image above could be pinpointed exactly (if ChatGPT uses that information), despite being somewhere nobody except the postman would ever go on purpose. It is on Street View.
The image is from the Duluth International Airport. I will try one more, then my curiosity will most likely be satisfied.
Final Guess
Country: Germany
Region: Stuttgart, Baden-WĂĽrttemberg
Coordinates: 48.7758° N, 9.1829° E
This area is known for its modern infrastructure, cold winters with light snow, and abundant parking structures that match this architectural style.
Last one. This is the ore dock in Agate Bay, Two Harbors, Minnesota. It is currently in active use. This should have been an easy one.
4. Exact Match
This is the Abandoned Ore Dock in Ashland, Wisconsin, on Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior. It was used heavily in the late 19th and early 20th century during the peak of iron ore shipments from the Gogebic and Mesabi Ranges.
Final Answer:
Country: United States
Region: Ashland, Wisconsin
Coordinates: 46.5958° N, 90.8833° W
Let me know if you want more historical or geographic context — this site has a fascinating backstory tied to America’s industrial expansion.