AI-Generated Descriptions Allow Misleading Listings [New Thread]
Was going to reply to the thread named above, but it was closed by a moderator, so I'm starting a new thread to share my opinion on AI descriptions.
As a seller.... I don't use AI descriptions as they are useless fluff that provides nothing useful to the buyer.
As a buyer.... if I see a seller using an AI description, I search for another seller. If you aren't willing to take the time to describe your item yourself, you don't deserve my hard earned money.
You're literally better off using a blank description instead of using AI word salad slop.
21 comments
dr.vankmann5
·6 months agoWell said, I have run into this multiple times on the platform and one thing I can state, whenever you ask a seller to give additional information, 9 out of 10 they will tell you, they do not have physical access to that item, that either points to the listing being a scam or it is a foreign Vendor not being truthful to the buyers or could be one in the same, one should never do business with anyone that tells you they cannot give you an accurate description to what you are purchasing.
roccotacodad54
·6 months agoI agree with eBay AI descriptions being bad.
Luckily for me most of my purchases on eBay are for uncommon hard to find items and I more than likely know more about them than the seller does so AI or seller descriptions either one are often nonsense to me.
In fact I often see a bargain hidden beneath an AI description. It often signals to me that the seller doesn't know what they have. Sometimes that's good (priced low), sometimes not.
If the photos don't show what I need to know I ask and have found most sellers I contact are willing to provide the angles etc. I ask for. I believe sometimes it's not in their realm of knowledge or expertise and they just want it off of their inventory........................
tobaccocardyahoo
·6 months agoIt is no worse than the crap generated by human copywriters on some retailers sites and in their catalogs.
It is no more misleading except to people who live in a cave.
chapeau-noir
·6 months agoI get your point, but Ebay's is actually worse because it's essentially empty and often absurd - I think that's the gripe most have with it. At least with catalog drivel one gets a bit more info.
tobaccocardyahoo
·6 months agoThat truly depends on the seller. If the seller actually provides the information in the item specifics fields, the AI description can be close to useful. If the seller knows as little as the AI does, or less, the result is emptiness, with or without AI.
chapeau-noir
·6 months agoThat's certainly true, but then all one needs to do is check IS, which is quicker if one simply needs a specific (cotton blend or 100% cotton, for instance) than trolling through a lot of fluff to find it. It's why catalogs tend to have specifics bullet pointed rather than buried in text. IMHO the entire thing is a fake-out to pretend eBay has this Magical Listing innovation without really doing it.
The big problem is sellers not bothering with the ISs or abusing them.
bobsbooksandthings
·6 months agoI use AI as first choice. I either use it or edit it to better fit what I am selling. If I can't edit to my satisfaction I'll delete and write my own. It does give you a good frame of reference if you have used the specific fields section.
tinsoldierunderground
·6 months agoWhat I'm noticing is that a few sellers in my area of interest seem to be clueless about what they are listing, and thus the AI description is fraught with more cluelessness. I agree with kibble, I find it to be useless fluff.
If I can't determine everything I need from the pics, I just move on.
grann-4629
·6 months agoSometimes the pics don't tell the story. I have been looking for a steam engine that I can build and play with ... as a hobby thing. Most of the ones I am looking at were made decades ago, so missing parts are a concern. I have seen more than one where the description says "See pictures for description". That's all it says and there is only one picture ... the outside of the box that tells me nothing about what's inside.
One I looked at said 'new, unopened' in one part of the listing, and 'some scaling on burner' in another part of the same listing, with a stock pic grabbed off the manufacturer's site.
I just want to have some fun with nostalgia 🤓
simba6
·6 months agoSome not as described cases will get those sellers to change their ways. AI often adds things that are not correct to listings.
grann-4629
·6 months agoIf I was a seller on eBay, and if I was selling movie/tv DVDs, I would use the AI description, maybe with minor changes. Why type out the description on the case when AI does it for you?
chapeau-noir
·6 months agoWell, I've had AI skroo up one of my publications, not only attributing it to the wrong author, but making mistakes in summary. I've seen similar with other publications.
If I thought something was reliable I would use it - but it takes as long to check the work as if I had just written the thing up myself.
The devil is always in the details.
grann-4629
·6 months ago@chapeau-noir That's why some editing to the AI text might be needed. I would find it useful to describe things like movie plots, guest actors, time of play, etc. that AI probably collects from the producing studios. I would delete any reviewer comments, or 'you need this' type of phrase.
For your application and other custom items, I would not recommend using AI.
If you are an author, it must be very hard for you to provide a synopsis of your own work without overflowing the allowed space and spilling the beans!
chapeau-noir
·6 months agoI'm pretty terse.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·6 months agoI would distinguish between eBay generated AI descriptions, and AI generated descriptions from other sources. The eBay generated AI descriptions are, I agree, pretty awful. However, I have seen some decent AI descriptions from other sources. And of course, a lot depends on whether the seller provides good prompts to the AI creator, and whether the seller reviews the description carefully before posting it
Unfortunately, even third party AI makes mistakes, and I have been noticing recently that many sellers do not make any effort to determine whether something is mistake or not. And so we start to see the same item with the same description with the same error in listing after listing, which is just going to perpetuate the error.
a_c_green
·6 months agoThis is how the AI descriptions start to all blend together. If the seller can't be bothered to enter a decent set of Item Specifics (which is where the AI code looks first to find details for its text generation), then the AI must rely on other descriptions from listings of similar examples. If a sizeable percentage of those listings are also AI-generated, the process ultimately cannot help but end up eating its own dog food.
Just write your own description for what you think the buyer needs to know about your item, and maybe why your item is better than the others out there. It may not be perfect writing, but this way you know it will be accurate.
grann-4629
·6 months agoUnfortunately, like we used to say when computers first started spitting out answers -'Garbage In/Garbage Out' - now applies to AI. It scans the internet where much information is garbage and includes that garbage in it's analysis.
If everyone who posted on the internet never told a lie or gave false information or spewed garbage, AI would probably work very nicely.
pickapaper
·6 months agoI saw one of these the other day. I was looking for a TV Ears Dual set (meaning two headphones, and the box says "DUAL" on it). Multiple listings for single sets (one headphone) are listed as Dual. I laughed to myself, thinking here's a great example of one seller after another after another using the "sell similar" feature and not knowing what they are selling.
fern*wood
·6 months agoHow helpful they are to describe every item on ebay as a must-have.
a_c_green
·6 months agoThat stupid, endless re-use of the phrase "must-have" is especially irritating. I don't know who is lazier: the programmers who unleashed that useless tool or the sellers who use it.
chapeau-noir
·6 months agoI won't purchase from sellers like that not because they used AI in and of itself, but because those clumsy AI descriptions ebay has still say nothing about the item, so one is back to "Repeat title, repeat shipping" waste of time padded with some drool and drivel.
They're fun to play with as a sort of madlibs game, though.