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I think that should be illegal and misrepresenting. Lots of gray area with AI usage.
by psygn89 3mo ago
I think that should be illegal and misrepresenting. Lots of gray area with AI usage.
- etdznots 3mo ago[flagged]
- CobrastanJorji 3mo agoHonestly, given the dangerously unmitigated power of Claude Mythos, we should really look into arresting the people who have failed to ask Claude to cure cancer already.
- robbiep 3mo ago‘Catfishing is fine’
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- mvdtnz 3mo agoI'm not sure if you're being serious but it should be illegal because they're producing images that are often not physically possible. At least if an agent stages an apartment with real furniture they are doing something a tenant really could do. But these AI images tend to change the physical dimensions of a room, use images of furniture that don't make sense dimensionally, shift the "natural" light of the room in a way that the sun will never provide and sometimes even change the view through the windows of the room.
- phainopepla2 3mo agoI think their last sentence is a pretty clear indicator that they were not being serious.
- rsynnott 3mo agoAs with bitcoin fans before them, Poe's Law is in full effect with the AI boosters.
- rsynnott 3mo agoWhat, after all, is a bit of light fraud, if it saves an estate agent some time?
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- Groxx 3mo agoQuite a few times I've seen permanent light fixtures that don't exist, vents that don't exist, room sizes that are obviously implied to be much larger than reality (e.g. they show a full-size bed, but there's only like 4 feet of space in that location), etc. I don't particularly mind fake furniture, but if it's very much not to scale I think it's pushing "probably fraud". And when permanent fixtures are fabricated, "blatant fraud, penalize immediately, revoke license on repeats". Using an automated tool does not absolve you of consequences, particularly one nigh-universally well-known to fabricate things.
- taneq 3mo agoOh, and little touches like an ugly fence being replaced by a sweeping view of a beach or a mountain range.
- denkmoon 3mo agolol. Minor touchups! Anything which could have a material impact on the sale price which is misrepresented in images is fraud, plain and simple.
- topgrain2 3mo agoI was seeing the fake light fixtures in listing photos at least four years ago. Fake furniture is bad enough (the scale issue you mention is the main problem) but fake parts of the house should definitely be illegal.
- rwyinuse 3mo agoI think the real issue here is lack of progress in AR technology. Tenants may be disappointed by the difference between marketing material and reality, but that can be easily solved by AR glasses that the tenants can wear 24/7 to make the apartment look just like in marketing material, perhaps for a small monthly subscription fee. It's cheaper than renovation, that's for sure. Mark Zuckerberg should take note.
- gtowey 3mo agoNow you're thinking like a silicon valley founder! Brilliant! Call the company "Lipstyk" as in the old phrase about lipstick on a pig.
- gruez 3mo ago/s?
- diab0lic 3mo agoI can’t tell through text if you’re being sarcastic or not. So I’ll add some context for fun. Ran into this a few weeks ago apartment shopping with a friend. AI images of multiple apartments had: - Relocated the sink from the back counter to the kitchen island. - Added outlets that didn’t exist. - Displayed furniture layouts that were not possible in the actual space. That couch looks great in that spot, except when you explore further you realize it’s sitting right up against the master bedroom’s door. To that last point, no stager would lay it out that way because anyone viewing the apartment would take them to task for you know… having to drag a couch out of the way to open their bedroom door. Staging layouts have always been more pretty than practical but AI staging regularly puts functionally DOA layouts on display. As far as I’m concerned it’s disingenuous at best, and deception realistically. The process is broken while this slop is in there.
- janalsncm 3mo agoAs a rule of thumb, if it is just replacing staging, I don’t have an issue with it. A staged apartment also isn’t “real” so if the AI isn’t adding windows and outlets that don’t exist it’s functionally equivalent to staging. Most real estate agents are going to stage a house or condo for real regardless because people are really going to go there, not just look at pictures online or show up with a VR headset. So in practice this is only going to affect rental units that are not staged.
- DrewADesign 3mo agoI imagine this is a much larger problem in high turnover rental markets.
- throwaway27448 3mo agoFraud is not the same as productivity buddy
- DrewADesign 3mo agoThe circa 2026 tech industry c-suite crowd respectfully, but vigorously, disagrees.
- King-Aaron 3mo agoThis is satire, correct?
- izacus 3mo agoIt.... took me awhile to register that sarcasm. Bravo.
- Ajedi32 3mo agoWouldn't that fall under existing false advertising laws, if you're putting fake/altered images in the listing?
- HumblyTossed 3mo agoIt should, I would assume. But for some reason, it seems nobody is enforcing consumer protections like they used to. Pretty soon they'll take the stickers off mowers warning people to not put their hand under it while it's running. The world isn't in a good place...
- thewebguyd 3mo ago> it seems nobody is enforcing consumer protections like they used to I'll preface this by saying that I don't agree with how things are working currently. But, the way the existing protections get enforced is by an individual or group of individuals filing lawsuits. Our regulatory agencies have either been completely gutted by DOGE, or just no longer have an appetite to do any kind of proactive enforcement, so its now up to the victims who have been wronged to bring the violation to the attention of the courts/regulatory bodies responsible for enforcement. Part of me feels like this is intentional and by design, because bringing suit is an expensive and time consuming process and naturally locks out the people harmed the most by these violations. Its the same method by which slumlords/bad landlords get away with so many blatant violations of the various landlord/tenant laws; their tenants can't afford the lawsuits and the lawyers to protect themselves. The legal system needs to be made much more accessible, but I'm not sure how that happens or what that looks like.
- underlipton 3mo ago>so its now up to the victims who have been wronged to bring the violation to the attention of the courts/regulatory bodies responsible for enforcement. lol Have you tried finding a lawyer recently? For anything? >The legal system needs to be made much more accessible, but I'm not sure how that happens or what that looks like. As far as consumer protection goes, the party with greater resources or sophistication (e.g., if you retain counsel against a pro se defendant or plaintiff) should have a higher standard of proof; be forced to follow formal procedural rules, no matter the venue; and bear all costs if they're the ones who brought suit. If you use the court system as an arm of your business, you shouldn't get any leniency in terms of crossing your t's and dotting your i's. I don't know how you get there, but that's the fastest way to level the playing field.
- pkaye 3mo agoCalifornia recently added new laws regarding AI in real estate. I think lighting corrections and cropping is allowed but other digitally altered images should include a link to the original. https://lewisbrisbois.com/insights/clientalerts/new-california-law-requires-real-estate-agents-and-brokers-to-disclose-ai-alterations-in-listings https://lewisbrisbois.com/insights/clientalerts/new-californ... https://dre.ca.gov/Licensees/Advisories/Advisory_2026_03_17_AI_in_California_Real_Estate.html https://dre.ca.gov/Licensees/Advisories/Advisory_2026_03_17_...
- a1000regrets 3mo agowhat is considered original? AI enhancements built into the camera will be part of the original?
- pkaye 3mo agoI imagine if these cameras are adding or remove furniture, appliances or modifying flooring or the landscaping via AI it will be a problem. Edit: also if it becomes a big problem, in the future the law could be changed so that the real estate agent becomes liable to cover the cost of upgrading the property to match the altered image.
- apinstein 3mo agoI mean it’s already fraud to do so today… you cannot misrepresent the condition of a property. I think the harm so far has just been wasted time and thus no standing for lawsuits yet.
- kube-system 3mo agoYou can stage a property with furniture. Previously that was done with rental furniture.
- apinstein 2mo agoFurniture isn't part of the property by default; only if included in the sale. So pics with furniture aren't a problem, unless you say it's included and you don't get what's pictured.
- nubg 3mo agoIt seems the solution could be quite simple. Basically you buy/rent whatever was advertised, and if reality doesn't match, welp thats a defect the seller/landlord must fix at their own expense. Room shows a vent but in reality there isn't one? Well, the seller has to install it or cover the costs of what an installation would cost.
- drdexebtjl 3mo agoThat only works if the fix is cheaper than their lawyer. You’ll have to sue. If you do sue and it’s a rental, good luck renting ever again. You’ll never pass the background checks.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- dwd 3mo agoIt already is in a lot of jurisdictions for photo-shopping photos. Doctoring a photo slightly to make an area look larger, or just using a wide-angle lens though it can cause visible distortion. Removing unsightly poles, signs, trees, neighbouring properties was also common. Making the sky bluer and removing clouds is acceptable.
- faeyanpiraat 3mo agoYou can renovate your home to match an altered image, but you cant change the colour of the actual sky so in a sense that is “more false” advertising. :)
- apinstein 3mo agoIt’s pretty much always been against the rules of the mls to use altered photos. Pre ai, people would sometimes get busted for making grass where there was none, or making walls with cracks a solid color. It’s not allowed to alter condition of property. Staging and virtual staging (including sky replacement and removal of trash cans) are allowed so long as they don’t alter the true nature of the salable property. I am surprised that AI hasn’t been policed more. Probably they just don’t have the ops for it.
- doubled112 3mo agoThis same thing happened to me almost 20 years ago without AI. The pictures were all of another identical apartment in the building. When we went there to see the one we’d actually be renting, it was clear it hadn’t been cleaned in years, doors were off the hinges, counters had holes burned in them, stove was kicked in, etc. Ran fast from that “deal”.