For the world’s largest online e-commerce market for handicrafts, the impact of AI generated media was always going to loom large.
That’s why Etsy has taken definite steps to protect the almost 6 million artisan-entrepreneurs it hosts with new regulations against AI-generated content.
“Our marketplace only works when buyers and sellers trust each other,” Etsy Vice President of Customer Operations James Ossman wrote in a blog post.
“Sellers need clear guidance and confidence that their creativity and craftsmanship will be represented fairly; buyers need to understand what they’re buying and the human involvement behind it. We know we have work to do to uphold this standard on Etsy.”
New AI-use policies include an obligation for at least one unaltered, authentic photo of the product that isn’t generated or modified by AI tools. Further photos may be treated or generated with AI, but they must accurately represent the product being sold and not a romanticized or inauthentic depiction.
Additionally, violators may be held legally responsible to issue refunds if customers feel they have been misled through product imagery, bot-generated listings are no longer permitted, and for those who sell instructive material, such as recipes, craft patterns, or instructions, they must be their own work, not AI-generated, and the listing must include an example of an actual result made using these guides, instructions, not an AI-generated or simulated result.
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“The care in a hand-thrown mug, the eye behind a vintage find, the skill in a custom graphic design—this is the human touch that brings people to Etsy,” Ossman wrote. “AI should support our sellers’ creativity and craftsmanship, not replace them. When shopping on Etsy you should always be able to understand the role sellers play in every item.”
“This work is hard, and we don’t have every answer today. But I believe this is an important moment for Etsy, and that these initial steps are putting us on the right path.”
Quite like the car or the computer, artificial intelligence is a technology that becomes positive or negative depending on its use.
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GNN has already covered numerous examples of its capacity to save thousands of lives through improving medical diagnostics, and indeed Ossman noted that a blanket ban on the use of AI by Etsy sellers is a sort of collective punishment that penalizes all for its misuse by some.
LinkedIn is one platform that relies heavily on community moderation through a channel to report AI use that’s perceived to be fraudulent or harmful, and Ossman said Etsy is considering building out similar channels for use in its marketplace.
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