Etsy is cracking down on AI slop listings

is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.

Etsy is announcing stricter rules about how AI can be used in listings to reduce the volume of AI slop on the platform. In a post, the company says that “many active buyers say they can’t tell which items involve AI-generated content” and that sellers are “concerned about your work appearing alongside items that use AI in misleading ways,” spurring the new policies and restrictions.

Under the new policies, every listing must include “at least one unedited photo of the actual item against a real background,” and all photos must “accurately represent the item a buyer will receive.” The photos that aren’t the first one can be edited with software or AI-powered tools, as long as “the final result remains an accurate representation of the physical product.” The company shared a few examples to demonstrate the type of misleading images that are prohibited, including the cat stuffed animal at the top of this post.

Image: Etsy

While uploading images for a listing, if Etsy detects that any may be AI-generated, the platform will show a pop-up where you can note if an image was made with AI or not, as shown in a video. If a buyer reports that what they receive is “materially different” from a listing, a seller may be responsible for a refund.

For sellers who offer “functional guides,” which include patterns, recipes, or instructions,” Etsy says that the information in those products “must be your own work, not generated by AI.” Sellers will have to show an “actual result” made from a guide. The company also says that listings made by bots are no longer allowed.

Selling AI-generated art is still allowed on the platform, but a seller must disclose that it was made with AI, Etsy says.

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