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NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

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Re: NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

#161

Post by Polizeiposaune »

ryukoposting wrote: post #131
10000truths wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that ends up happening, then the next step would be for the platform to derank listings that contain AI-enhanced photos, to set the proper incentive. That would be up to the platform to enforce, though.

It's not "if." My mother-in-law is a realtor. She has a storage locker full of furniture for staging. I guarantee that the monthly cost of that locker, plus the cost of moving the furniture in and out of every property is an order of magnitude more expensive than whatever tool is doing the AI fake staging. The cost savings are too attractive.

And it's no doubt smaller-than-typical furniture so the rooms look more roomy..

Re: NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

#162

Post by culopatin »

filoleg wrote: post #103
plants wrote: post #5

This is awesome! StreetEasy is how many New Yorkers find apartments. In the past few years, it has been flooded with AI-staged apartments. The AI stagings warp the room to fit furniture that would 100% certainly not fit there. It’s deceptive, and I’m glad it at least requires disclosure now (although I wish it were fully banned)

Not going to lie, I wish they also added a square footage as a legal requirement too. It is entirely baffling to me as to why, but NYC is the only major city in the US I've ever lived in where it is genuinely a problem. In all other cities, I had no issues with that, pretty much every single posting online had square footage. Meanwhile, on StreetEasy (and other platforms listing NYC rental units), looking for apartme…

Square footage is very much a lie in San Francisco as well

Re: NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

#163

Post by moron4hire »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #150
drivingmenuts wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish that e-bike ads had the classification. The bike classes are well-defined AFAIK - it's the class legality that's regional, if any. Right now, they're actively helping riders skirt/evade the laws.

I'm pretty sure if they stopped skirting the laws, it'd eliminate a decent cohort of their customer base. Watching someone come through a pedestrian area at 45 mph on a "bicycle" that clearly is an electric motorcycle is pretty interesting.

Holy crap! How do they stop at that speed with those thin bicycle tires?

Re: NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

#164

Post by TurdF3rguson »

Eridrus wrote: post #159
TurdF3rguson wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I'm sure he's talking about disclosure. California has this law state-wide.

I agree, we're going to get a little warning label, just like the "virtually staged" labels that are already there and nothing of consequence will actually change. That is why I say this is a nothing burger.

But that label does serve a purpose. Plenty of people don't know that there's even such a thing as that.

Re: NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

#165

Post by Waterluvian »

Gigachad wrote: post #143
II2II wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because every time something new comes along, people will push boundaries while arguing it is acceptable. In this case, they may argue that it is no different from physically furnishing an apartment, taking some photos, then removing the furniture. At least in terms of representing the product. Clearly using AI is much easier and cheaper than physically furnishing the apartment for a couple of hours. Some may even ge…

The whole point of staging furniture is to help visualize and contextualize. Seeing a staged bed, couch, coffee table etc gives you a picture of how large or cramped the room is. AI furniture in contrast isn't limited by physics or reality and does not assist in showing the size of a room. It's only purpose is to deceive the viewer. AR visualizations where virtual models that are true to real world furniture is much…

Oh man I had never considered false perspective furniture for staging photos before.

Re: NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

#166

Post by [deleted] »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #121
filoleg wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not going to lie, I wish they also added a square footage as a legal requirement too. It is entirely baffling to me as to why, but NYC is the only major city in the US I've ever lived in where it is genuinely a problem. In all other cities, I had no issues with that, pretty much every single posting online had square footage. Meanwhile, on StreetEasy (and other platforms listing NYC rental units), looking for apartme…

> I cannot think of a logical reason to not provide that information. Because it's to an extreme degree a landlord's market and thus none of them have any incentive to do more than the bare minimum? Even if it was listed everyone would "stretch" things by including closets and the like. The only way it would work is if the city did the measurements and maintained a database...but then you'd have people bribing the in…

[deleted]

Re: NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

#167

Post by Ozzie_osman »

I would personally love to see an end to the universally existing bait-and-switch of brokers listing unavailable units just to get you on the phone, then when you contact them, saying "Oh sorry that unit just got rented (or sold), but, I have another one that might suit you"

Re: NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

#168

Post by whateveracct »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #121
filoleg wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not going to lie, I wish they also added a square footage as a legal requirement too. It is entirely baffling to me as to why, but NYC is the only major city in the US I've ever lived in where it is genuinely a problem. In all other cities, I had no issues with that, pretty much every single posting online had square footage. Meanwhile, on StreetEasy (and other platforms listing NYC rental units), looking for apartme…

> I cannot think of a logical reason to not provide that information. Because it's to an extreme degree a landlord's market and thus none of them have any incentive to do more than the bare minimum? Even if it was listed everyone would "stretch" things by including closets and the like. The only way it would work is if the city did the measurements and maintained a database...but then you'd have people bribing the in…

> Because it's to an extreme degree a landlord's market and thus none of them have any incentive to do more than the bare minimum?

okay let's change that? seems bad

Re: NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

#169

Post by muzani »

avaer wrote: post #2

There's several other areas that would be good to categorically ban AI usage from: - gambling - dating - hiring - advertising It shouldn't even be controversial that this would be broadly good for society. I say that as an AI maximalist: I fully trust AI with these things. I do not trust the humans using the AI.

Advertising would be fine if they checked it. Food advertising has used fake images forever, but it's okay because you know the meatballs don't look like that. You have an idea of what warm fries taste like without the fake heat imagery.

But the dress you get is not the same as the dress in the picture. If the model looked like you, the dress should fit the same, but the AI dresses don't. Same figure, same skin color, same height, and yet the dress looks different.

That's the problem with homes. There's no way a room fits that many things but AI will make it look like it does. There's a distortion where it changes the specification entirely.

It's like showing someone playing Fallout 4 on a MacBook Air. It's a deceptive practice, unlike the cereal boxes showing milk.

Re: NYC may require landlords and realtors to disclose the use of AI in listings

#170

Post by Eridrus »

TurdF3rguson wrote: post #164
Eridrus wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, we're going to get a little warning label, just like the "virtually staged" labels that are already there and nothing of consequence will actually change. That is why I say this is a nothing burger.

But that label does serve a purpose. Plenty of people don't know that there's even such a thing as that.

I strongly disagree. This is just the Politician's Fallacy.

I keep harping on about the "virtual staging" that real estate agents have been doing for a decade that is equally deceptive and annoying and already gets labeled, and the labels don't actually help because you're still left trying to decipher what is real yourself.

If they wanted to actually do something useful, they'd get together with the legislature and pass a law saying that real estate listings need to come with floor plans that are accurate within X% under the penalty of some sort of fine with a private right of action. But passing laws is hard and faces opposition.

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