Caution in using Ebay's AI description tool
So I've been using this one button tool to generate descriptions on my items and allow more keywords to be searched, unfortunately one of the downside is that it will hallucinate and as human beings I don't check it word for word all the time and lead up to this situation where I am pretty sure the buyer is clearly taking advantage of this AI mis-description and trying to cause trouble for long time reputable sellers. I had a collectible figure posted for sale and of course it will always comes in detail with pictures, however the AI description in this case added in another figure that comes with this figure in the description which cause the buyer to keep sending me messages and calling me a liar even after I said I don't have this other figure and offered full refund. The buyer then proceeds to open a return request but to just asking me to send him this other figure that I don't have. I have reported the conversation multiple times to Ebay and hopefully they can see what's going on here and stop this particular buyer from harassing other sellers. By the way this buyer's account is recently created and only has a few ratings, and the profile picture is that of a joker, go figure!
deltilogical
·10 months agoIt can't do a simple search, no way can it do a description.
carre8866
·10 months agoPretty sure eBay tells you it's in beta and to make sure to read over everything...100% on you.
steve_stuff
·10 months agoAt this point in time I'm pretty sure that AI really means "Amazingly" or "Always" Inaccurate.
broto_64
·10 months agoUnfortunately your item's title, pictures, AND description must all match.
It's part of ebay's Money Back Guarantee.
Your buyer is in the right.
As for the rest of us sellers, most of us would never use AI, we've had extensive discussion on its unreliability.
kensgiftshop
·10 months agoYou say the buyer is harassing you because they want what they bought and you reported them.
You made the mistake for not checking the description to make sure it was correct.
jonathanbrightlight
·10 months agoI don’t see any reason to believe the buyer is being malicious. They purchased a listing that said two items were included, they only got one. You do not have to refund them if they do not send back what they got, but they are likely to leave well deserved negative feedback, since the listing was inaccurate. They had a bad experience, and it was not due to them being malicious, it was due to you not checking the information that the tool you used provided you. Take ownership of your listings, do your best to apologize and make it right for this customer, and moving forward, either don’t use the AI tool at all or make sure you proofread it.
hartungcards
·10 months agoYou lost me at, "I don't check it word for word all the time."
meme6253
·10 months agoYou are ultimately responsible for your listing, Description & Photos, If you choose to use the AI tool you need to double check on it's content, If you do not you are also responsible for any trouble that it causes you, I would not use this tool until in time it is perfected.
a_c_green
·10 months ago@sankvondie : At the risk of piling on here, I don't know of anyone who recommends using the AI description tool, and this is a great example of why.
However, the reason that the description says that a Michelle Obama doll accompanies that Barack Obama doll ("This action figure, from 2008, comes in a box and includes Michelle Obama as the First Lady") is because your Item Specifics include one reading, "First Lady: Michelle Obama," so the AI description picks that up and uses it in a sentence.
If you are using the Sell Similar option to pick up someone else's listing, you run the risk of using Item Specifics that are not correct for your item. While it's true that the eBay AI option is rubbish, in this case I think this particular error comes from further up the line, because even if you write your own description, you also need to ensure that you don't have stray Item Specifics carried forward that can mislead buyers. You have to check all the details, to the point where you might as well write the listing yourself anyway.
As for your honked-off buyer, keep the correspondence clear and business-like. You did mess up the listing, regardless of how much the buyer is taking advantage of it, so you could consider a partial refund, though it looks like he bargained you down once already. You can still take it back before refunding, fix your listing and try again. Now that he has filed a Not As Described claim, you can request the item back before refunding, and when you send the refund via the claim process, eBay will return the Final Value Fees as part of that refund. (If you refuse to refund and eBay has to step in, they will not return the FVFs and will bill you for them instead.)
"I'm sorry for the incorrect listing. I do not have the Michelle Obama doll to offer you, but you can return the Barack Obama doll for a full refund."
Don't get into the weeds with this buyer. Keep it simple and polite.
sankvondie
OP10 months agoHi a_c_green, thanks for the comment and for sure I posted on here as a caution since I am sure there are other sellers like me that will blindly take advantage of this tool. I assume you are from the Ebay customer service, since it seems like you have access to my conversations? If you read the whole conversation I did offered a full refund upfront and kept it professional all the way through, the buyer did request a a full refund through eBay however twisted in a different way if you read the conversation in detail.
a_c_green
·10 months agoNo, this is a community forum of other eBay members. If you do see an eBay staffer posting here (there are about four Community reps), their post will have a colored rule around it and eBay logos identifying them. I'm just going by what you have told us here so far.
While it's true that AI has problems with hallucinations, in this particular case I think it was thrown off by the Item Specific mentioning Michelle Obama as the First Lady, and it assumed for the purpose of generating a description (as guided by the Item Specifics) that the listing was for two dolls and not just one.
iamalwaysright
·10 months agoLooks like you’ve been busted @a_c_green 😛
a_c_green
·10 months agoWell, I'm not hard to spot...
mamacassidy
·10 months agoUsing AI for item descriptions is not a wise move in my opinion. But no need to beat you up over that, you have now learned that lesson.
As far as the return request, tell him to send the item back for a refund. Tell him you are sorry for the mistake, and that's it. No need to argue over whether or not you have the other piece. No need to let him bully you. Just "return for a refund".
babyers88
·10 months agoAI is unreliable and often incorrect.
proof reading is required if you choose to use it
sankvondie
OP10 months agoThanks for the feedbacks, for sure I am partially at fault here for using this flawed tool, but also just point out that this is new way that malicious buyer will exploit, and with the amount of fees ebay is charging and making off seller these days I do sure hope that they will stand on the right side of things and not just cater to buyer satisfaction.
chapeau-noir
·10 months agoIf a buyer is told that they will receive two widgets by a hallucinating AI script, they do have a right to expect two widgets, whether the seller is offering two widgets or not. I don't think eBay going to support the seller in this case. It's up to us to ensure that what we describe is what we're actually offering.
All that happened here is a lesson to be more careful, or quit using rubbish AI to do something you yourself can doubtlessly do better. If we don't learn that lesson, eBay will teach it to us by sanctioning our accounts. Not a lot of flexibility in this and eBay is going to find for the buyer.
Hopefully your experience will warn others, though.
iamalwaysright
·10 months agoMalicious buyers will exploit a seller mistake???? Nooooo waaaay. That's totally a new thing here.
Not checking the AI descriptions tell me that you will totally contribute to the machine uprising that's eventually going to happen.
broto_64
·10 months agoSad, but true.
The real danger of AI is not AI itself, but all the players and collaborators.
roccotacodad54
·10 months agoYes I read an interview with one of the early developers of AI. When asked about the future of AI he said something to the effect of--be afraid--. He had serious concerns that there will be abuse. That proper safeguards aren't being put in place.
AI in of itself may be dangerous in time. I read where once when they introduced two computers so equipped. One of the first things they did was try to invent a language no one else could decipher. Scary.....
broto_64
·10 months agoYes but it never goes anywhere, because it can't.
AI's potential is limited, and it's intelligence truly is artificial just like it says.
It isn't human in its ways, it's ultimately a computer that can't think outside its limitations.
There is no Sarah Connor with our version of AI.
Now Quantum computers, if that pipe dream ever takes off (which I highly doubt too), yes that could have serious implications with AI but that's a huge IF.
roccotacodad54
·10 months ago"It isn't human in its ways, it's ultimately a computer that can't think outside its limitations."
Give it time. After all some AI works by learning from what it has experienced, just like humans do, no? It's learning to make decisions, no (chess)?
Sorry but I am skeptical of AI being trusted going foreward in time.
The implications of AI making decisions that could affect our lives in a negative manner is of concern to many in the field. Some police departments already rely on AI to fill out incident reports based on feeds from body cams. What if AI decides certain information isn't pertinent?
I agree with them...............................
janet9988
·10 months agoYou are 100% at fault. The buyer us just expecting what you listed. That is not malicious.
kensgiftshop
·10 months agoBuyer didn't receive what you advertised and you want Ebay to take your side?
sankvondie
OP10 months agoSo I apologized, offered a full refund in the conversation, the buyer opened a return request which I approved, but insist on me sending him the item which I don’t have, using names and offensive languages by calling me a liar, what would you do in this case? Continue bending over backwards for the buyer?
fern*wood
·10 months agoIf I was receiving that type of message after handling my mistake, I would just delete them and do nothing. I believe if you put them on your blocked bidder list any further messages may be blocked too.
jonathanbrightlight
·10 months agoYou did not claim originally that your buyer called you names, although you did note that they called you a liar (and since your listing stated they would receive something they did not, that doesn’t seem like a surprise). If they used some type of slur, that might get the attention of eBay, but otherwise they expect buyers and sellers to be able to communicate.
You do not have to bend over backwards, you can be firm that they need to return the item they received for a refund. You cannot truthfully continue to insist you did nothing wrong.
chapeau-noir
·10 months agoJust cease communication at this point. You made a mistake, that doesn't give anyone license to harass you after you've done your best to rectify it.
simba6
·10 months agoIf often adds things to listings that are untrue. At best you end up with a long wordy mess no one will read. At worst, it says untrue things and can lead to a not as described case and bad feedback.
I got Yahoo's AI to explain how you could ship live puppies in a USPS flat rate box.
chapeau-noir
·10 months agoAll of this is down to you for irresponsible usage of a flaw-ridden tool, so yes, caution is advised.