6/30/2026 at 5:35:19 PM
The first example of generating home interiors fills me with indescribable hatred. Recently real estate agents have taken to running every dilapidated unsellable apartment through these AI filters, and you have to scroll through a dozen of these Ikea-chic images of what the apartment presumably could look like, before you are allowed to see the horrors they are trying to peddle at insane prices.by torginus
6/30/2026 at 5:36:43 PM
I think that should be illegal and misrepresenting. Lots of gray area with AI usage.by psygn89
6/30/2026 at 8:19:19 PM
California 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-californ...
https://dre.ca.gov/Licensees/Advisories/Advisory_2026_03_17_...
by pkaye
7/1/2026 at 12:18:31 AM
what is considered original? AI enhancements built into the camera will be part of the original?by a1000regrets
7/1/2026 at 12:49:04 AM
I 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.
by pkaye
7/1/2026 at 1:43:02 AM
I 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.by apinstein
7/1/2026 at 6:03:57 AM
You can stage a property with furniture. Previously that was done with rental furniture.by kube-system
7/1/2026 at 10:40:50 AM
Yes but that cost a lot more money.by fragmede
7/1/2026 at 4:59:38 PM
Easily a 8k rental.by Den_VR
7/1/2026 at 1:40:19 AM
It’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.
by apinstein
6/30/2026 at 7:10:09 PM
Wouldn't that fall under existing false advertising laws, if you're putting fake/altered images in the listing?by Ajedi32
6/30/2026 at 7:34:12 PM
It 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...
by HumblyTossed
6/30/2026 at 8:04:29 PM
> it seems nobody is enforcing consumer protections like they used toI'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.
by thewebguyd
7/1/2026 at 1:12:06 AM
> just no longer have an appetite to do any kind of proactive enforcementThe overturning of the Chevron doctrine removed the ability of the government to do many kinds of proactive enforcement.
> Part of me feels like this is intentional and by design
It is absolutely intentional and by design. It aligns with other recent changes in the legal landscape, such as ending the ability for lower federal courts to issue nationwide injunctions. This requires more groups to accumulate more funds to pursue more lawsuits in more regions, re-establishing standing, re-establishing harms, re-arguing against the same harmful and illegal acts.
You're allowed to fight back, but only after you've been harmed, and only at great expense and effort, and with the deck stacked against you at every level.
by sjsdaiuasgdia
7/1/2026 at 3:19:38 AM
You basically cannot enforce any laws on corporations when Republicans are in control. ~50% of voters decided that they should be able to do literally anything they want and Buyer Beware is a good way to structure society and commerce.by ryandrake
7/1/2026 at 9:19:00 AM
Do you really think 50% of voters thought this was what they were getting? I think most of them thought “dunno what is going on, but this guy seems confident and says it’ll be good if we vote for him”.by taneq
7/1/2026 at 1:31:10 PM
that's what I voted for and I'm happy about it. same for every single person in my circle.you may not understand the other side because of biases but if you just say "oh 50% must be crazy / be stupid" then noone can have an honest debate. but I guess gone are those days.
by theultdev
7/1/2026 at 2:54:47 PM
Which part attracts you the most? The corruption, the self-dealing, the disrespect for the Constitution and the rule of law, or the racism?by sjsdaiuasgdia
7/1/2026 at 3:00:31 PM
prime example of why there can't be discourse happening right here ^by theultdev
7/1/2026 at 3:09:30 PM
Answer the question.by bytehowl
7/1/2026 at 4:53:31 PM
Ah, the irony.by ceejayoz
7/1/2026 at 5:58:41 PM
how is it irony? the guy asked loaded "questions" basically saying everything is racist and evil. not really good faith is it?nothing about policy or any specific thing you could have a civil conversation about.
they didn't even say what perceived racist, corrupt, etc. delusional take they're talking about.
unless I'm on a liberal newsletter how would I know the conspiracies they're talking about?
to answer in one word GP's main question "Which part attracts you the most?"
Sanity.
by theultdev
7/1/2026 at 3:22:01 PM
If you're willing to overlook the corruption, the self dealing, the disrespect for the Constitution and rule of law, and the racism, then I agree. There is no useful discourse to be had with you.by sjsdaiuasgdia
7/1/2026 at 6:06:03 PM
[flagged]by theultdev
7/1/2026 at 6:13:29 PM
> I'd rather someone be rich before office not have their son work on a Ukrainian oil company while their father is VP that handles relations with said country.You must be incensed over Jared Kushner's diplomatic roles and $2B investments from the Saudis, then?
by ceejayoz
7/1/2026 at 6:19:48 PM
He formed an investment group after leaving government. Hunter worked for an oil company (no experience) WHILE his father was overseeing the country relations. And the company he worked for was under investigation for corruption. Joe bragged about getting that prosecutor fired.Meanwhile Jared got the Abraham Accords and is working on other peace deals.
Hunter was a crackhead being paid in diamonds by a corrupt oil company. Not the same is it?
by theultdev
7/1/2026 at 6:20:53 PM
I appreciate your answering your own question; https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48750787.> Hunter was a crackhead being paid in diamonds by a corrupt oil company. Not the same is it?
For sure. Kushner/Trump's corruption is far more lucrative.
by ceejayoz
7/1/2026 at 6:25:36 PM
I'm glad you can at least admit that the Biden's were corrupt.by theultdev
7/1/2026 at 7:23:58 PM
And Trump's corruption is orders of magnitude worse.Hunter Biden is not in office, is not running for office. I wouldn't support a campaign from him because "whose crotches were involved in your creation" is not a qualifying factor for much of anything besides assigning a last name.
Trump is in office, and is actively, brazenly corrupt. And you're OK with it for...reasons?
by sjsdaiuasgdia
7/1/2026 at 7:41:29 PM
He wasn't, but his dad was at the time. That's the point.My criticism is not of Hunter, but of Joe Biden. The last D president. The most popular D (by votes) in history.
It's worse for people to entirely to benefit purely based on if their dad is in charge. That's nepotism.
However Kushner is in office, he does work on peace deals in the middle east. He has an official title and does work with many countries and many people. It makes sense for him to make connections over there.
It's not unreal to believe he met people in SA and they all wanted to make a business deal on their own. That's individuals making their own decisions at noone's expense. No demands (like firing a prosecutor). Not quid pro quo.
It's unreal to believe Hunter had any knowledge about Ukrainian oil and being paid in diamonds was legit, plus his business partner outed him. And all while his dad was handling relations with that country, and while he bragged about getting the prosecutor fired that was investigating the company. That's quid pro quo. That's nepotism. That's corruption.
by theultdev
7/1/2026 at 8:32:19 PM
> However Kushner is in office, he does work on peace deals in the middle east. He has an official title and does work with many countries and many people.Actually, that's part of the problem. Jared Kushner did have a formal government job during Trump's first admin. He does not have one in the 2nd term. He's not even a "special government employee" like they made Musk.
He's a "volunteer" who is then given substantial foreign policy influence in a region where he is also a substantial financial player. And it all happens with him having no formal duty to the United States, no particular rules of the road for what's allowed and what's not, because he's (quite intentionally, IMO) existing in a gray area.
Some questions for you to ponder on -
What purpose does Trump Crypto serve?
Why was CZ pardoned?
by sjsdaiuasgdia
7/2/2026 at 6:35:55 AM
Thankyou for responding with your view, and I'm sorry that you got downvoted for it. I don't agree that "[people] should be able to do literally anything they want and Buyer Beware is a good way to structure society and commerce" because I feel that a degree of safety from bad actors is part of the social contract in a healthy society, and that the strong and capable have a duty to protect and support those less able. I understand, however, that not everyone feels that way and that I'm not entitled to tell them what to think. That's why we vote on stuff, and it mostly works.I still think that a large percentage of MAGA red hat voters (who don't necessarily represent all GOP voters) have bought into the populist rhetoric rather than actively understanding and supporting the actual policy but I'm sure there are plenty of people like you out there who are actively choosing this.
by taneq
7/1/2026 at 1:34:44 PM
> The overturning of the Chevron doctrine removed the ability of the government to do many kinds of proactive enforcement.How does stopping agencies from making up their own interpretation of laws do anything to prevent proactive enforcement? (Do you just mean they're now more limited in their ability to make up new laws and proactively enforce those? I'm pretty sure prohibitions on false advertising are actual laws.)
by Ajedi32
7/2/2026 at 10:42:34 AM
The legislative process (particularly nowadays) moves too slow to react to changes in the real world. The administrative processes provided a gap-fill function that could be somewhat more responsive. That is now lost.by sjsdaiuasgdia
7/2/2026 at 5:39:55 PM
Okay, if that's what you meant then I don't think it's pertinent to this specific situation, since false advertising laws passed by the legislature already exist. They just need to be enforced.Speaking more generally beyond the context of this specific situation, I agree representative democracy moves slower than other systems of government, but I personally don't think that's sufficient justification for ceding control of the legislative process to an unelected oligarchy. I think the overturning of cheveron was good push back against that trend.
by Ajedi32
7/1/2026 at 12:56:34 AM
> Our regulatory agencies have either been completely gutted by DOGE, or just no longer have an appetite to do any kind of proactive enforcementWell yeah. That's what they ran on, and people voted for it.
by eli_gottlieb
6/30/2026 at 10:00:30 PM
>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.
by underlipton
7/1/2026 at 11:05:46 AM
I understand your intent, but:> 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
No. Holding parties to different standards of evidence is a horrible idea and would do so much harm to a legal system that is already in many cases failing to function the way it was intended.
Determining who has "greater resources or sophistication" is itself a very thorny issue. For example, class action lawyers often look for Average Joes to become lead plaintiffs in highly-targeted lawsuits. These lawsuits are, in at least some if not many cases, designed less to defend the interests of individuals who have been harmed in some way (even theoretically) and more to extract settlements that result in hefty legal fees for themselves.
In these cases, it would be naive to treat the plaintiffs (who I would argue are proxies for the attorneys) as the parties with fewer resources or sophistication.
by ElProlactin
7/1/2026 at 3:47:35 AM
> it seems nobody is enforcing consumer protections like they used to.This is one of the benefits Realtors(tm) and other licensing boards (lawyers etc) like to tout - we have a code of ethics, we self-regulate, you are safer with them than with Joe Agent, blah blah. You see how that goes.
by CGMthrowaway
7/1/2026 at 1:45:38 PM
> Pretty soon they'll take the stickers off mowers warning people to not put their hand under it while it's running.Good.
by tryagainian
6/30/2026 at 9:10:04 PM
I mean, what’s the problem with taking such stickers off? I’d love if it we had fewer retarded warnings. And I fail to see how they have anything to do with enforcing consumer protections.by jtbayly
7/1/2026 at 2:57:18 PM
The stickers are because somebody got hurt. That's the only reason why they're there. And hopefully it helps somebody. It doesn't hurt anything to have the sticker, lol.by vardalab
6/30/2026 at 7:50:01 PM
Trump Mobile did the same with the false advertising of their phone, and that’s apparently okay.by iAMkenough
6/30/2026 at 8:01:41 PM
> that’s apparently okayEverything is "okay" with Trump. This social experiment got out of hand long ago. I mean come on, if we (as a society) allowed and okayed pedophilic tendencies, why do we keep looking for the lowest point on the bar? I'm pretty sure, Trump can consume human flesh on live TV and we'd just shrug it off and forget that even happened two weeks later.
by iLemming
7/1/2026 at 3:36:48 PM
This 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”.
by doubled112
7/1/2026 at 12:42:30 AM
It 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.
by dwd
7/1/2026 at 6:34:05 AM
You 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. :)by faeyanpiraat
6/30/2026 at 8:33:02 PM
It 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.
by nubg
7/1/2026 at 12:38:34 AM
That 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.
by drdexebtjl
6/30/2026 at 5:44:55 PM
[flagged]by etdznots
6/30/2026 at 7:49:09 PM
Quite 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.
by Groxx
6/30/2026 at 8:36:55 PM
Oh, and little touches like an ugly fence being replaced by a sweeping view of a beach or a mountain range.by taneq
7/1/2026 at 12:26:00 AM
lol. Minor touchups!Anything which could have a material impact on the sale price which is misrepresented in images is fraud, plain and simple.
by denkmoon
7/1/2026 at 1:19:07 AM
I 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.
by topgrain2
6/30/2026 at 5:57:00 PM
What, after all, is a bit of light fraud, if it saves an estate agent some time?by rsynnott
6/30/2026 at 9:47:37 PM
I 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.
by diab0lic
6/30/2026 at 9:16:42 PM
I 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.
by rwyinuse
7/1/2026 at 4:45:40 AM
Now you're thinking like a silicon valley founder! Brilliant! Call the company "Lipstyk" as in the old phrase about lipstick on a pig.by gtowey
6/30/2026 at 5:55:47 PM
I'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.by mvdtnz
6/30/2026 at 6:05:00 PM
I think their last sentence is a pretty clear indicator that they were not being serious.by phainopepla2
6/30/2026 at 6:19:08 PM
As with bitcoin fans before them, Poe's Law is in full effect with the AI boosters.by rsynnott
6/30/2026 at 8:29:00 PM
‘Catfishing is fine’by robbiep
6/30/2026 at 8:25:50 PM
Honestly, 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.by CobrastanJorji
6/30/2026 at 9:49:07 PM
As 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.
by janalsncm
6/30/2026 at 11:13:22 PM
I imagine this is a much larger problem in high turnover rental markets.by DrewADesign
6/30/2026 at 10:07:32 PM
Fraud is not the same as productivity buddyby throwaway27448
6/30/2026 at 11:17:56 PM
The circa 2026 tech industry c-suite crowd respectfully, but vigorously, disagrees.by DrewADesign
7/1/2026 at 12:13:49 PM
It.... took me awhile to register that sarcasm. Bravo.by izacus
7/1/2026 at 12:36:28 AM
This is satire, correct?by King-Aaron
6/30/2026 at 9:22:22 PM
/s?by gruez
6/30/2026 at 5:44:48 PM
And it's borderline fraud, I think I saw an apartment on Streeteasy where they were able to 'fit' an entire desk, drawers and a queen size bed, obviously these image models just scale these down to proportions that just don't exist in real life.the actual bedroom could only fit queen size bed ;(
by ms7m
6/30/2026 at 6:24:07 PM
How is that borderline, that’s just actual fraud.by echoangle
6/30/2026 at 7:56:18 PM
Thisby NonHyloMorph
7/1/2026 at 1:02:02 PM
This type of comment is generally frowned upon on hn.That's what the upvote/downvote feature is for.
by diordiderot
7/2/2026 at 8:24:15 AM
“This” is one of the most nonsensical Reddit mannerisms, it’s karma-farming instead of upvoting.by port11
7/1/2026 at 11:34:33 AM
Wait, Are you saying 2 adults and a kid should barely fit a queen bed?https://www.amazon.com/iDOO-Mattress-Inflatable-Camping-infl...
by ragazzina
7/1/2026 at 1:56:12 PM
I guess you could call it a Qwen size bedby DaedalusII
7/1/2026 at 5:09:10 AM
I don't hate virtual decorations in apartment sales images, since it helps with trying to get a scale of the room, but the AI ones these days just make it completely impossible to trust. I've seen plenty where I have a hard time believing it could actually fit the furniture in the picture. Obviously a real estate agent should check that the images have realistic proportions, but there's no signal that I could trust them. It just says "decorated with AI" or something.by Hamuko
6/30/2026 at 7:09:37 PM
Accepting 100% that it should be in some way deemed unacceptable (socially or legally) to fake what an apartment actually looks like, I did find using an image model really helpful in making design choices for my bathroom remodel. Mostly about whether to tile certain things where we couldn't quite visualize ourselves what the effect on the entire space would be.by dgacmu
6/30/2026 at 7:56:21 PM
It should be the same as rule #1 of machine translation: never machine translate something for your recipient unless they ask for it. They may not need it. If they do need it, they almost certainly know where to find machine translation. A bad translation with no original is worse than nothing, because you often end up having to mentally backtranslate a broken version of your native language in order to understand what they were trying to say.Likewise, if I want to see AI renders of what the apartment may one day maybe look like - I can ask for it. Or make the render myself with my tool of choice. But I'll need to know what it actually looks like to do that.
Sadly Google in particular don't obey rule #1 even for machine translation, so it's going to be an uphill battle to get companies to understand.
by vintermann
6/30/2026 at 9:29:03 PM
There's a big difference of someone using the tool to make design decisions for work they are actually going to implement vs someone using the same tool to make one think it has already been doneby dylan604
6/30/2026 at 6:42:51 PM
Where I live (NYC) putting altered images like that has been the norm for more than a decade.It’s just used to be more expensive to hire someone to do it for you.
The altered images always e free stirs the same bright walls and grey magazine style furniture.
AI is just making it cheaper, but this was bound to happen.
(Images altered this way do have a small watermark stating so)
by strulovich
6/30/2026 at 7:07:37 PM
Also NYC. A classic was mounting a bright light outside a window so it appears as “sun-drenched” as the description claimed.(Unrelated, my favorite one was getting to the apartment and learning the “bedroom” was a flex wall in the kitchen)
by lelandfe
6/30/2026 at 7:11:28 PM
AI has very uniquely made creating these faked/impossible layout images one of the cheapest & easiest things you can do at the moment, even if it didn't introduce the concept. Simultaneously, AI has had very little cost reduction impact on much else. This change in relative balance is how AI has created the new version of the problem and it's not apparent how this imbalance was always bound to occur without AI.by zamadatix
6/30/2026 at 9:42:27 PM
> e free stirs
by dotancohen
6/30/2026 at 6:28:27 PM
Just having a good photographer is amazing. When my friend was selling their place I was amazed and how good the house looked in the listing. How big it looked, when I know it was not big. This was before AI filters were available. So not a new issue but certainly made worse and cheaper to do.by darrylb42
6/30/2026 at 10:18:02 PM
Even if you're not a good photographer, wide angle lenses make rooms look enormous, by exaggerating the size difference between close and far objects. Before AI most estate agents used that.by ajb
6/30/2026 at 7:53:48 PM
I just started seeing these pop up a few weeks ago after some very obvious AI edits appeared in my searches. It’s entirely possibly realtors have been doing this for years now, just in less obvious ways. This crosses the line for me as they’re clearly making spaces look far bigger and brighter than they actually are. Straight up fraudulent and deceptive behavior.by xvxvx
6/30/2026 at 5:48:10 PM
In a sane world, this would be a clear cut case of false advertisement, and the real estate agents would be held liable for fraud. Sadly, we don't live in a sane world.by bakugo
6/30/2026 at 7:41:04 PM
This!!2 months ago while looking for apartments, the majority of the pics shown were generated by AI. The pictures generated by AI often looked much more brighter, cleaner and larger and when I visited them in person, they were the opposite. I wasted so much time visiting due to this.
I understand the intention but the pictures are so wrong most of the time and hide so much imperfection that it should be illegal for false advertisement.
by haskaalo
7/1/2026 at 12:44:06 AM
I keep hoping the fucking barn doors people are putting in houses now are an AI illusion, but that's never the case. Barn doors. In the god damned house. Talk about a crime.by SwellJoe
7/1/2026 at 4:03:50 AM
I sense a business opportunity: a web app that de-sloppifies real estate, airbnb, and vrbo photos! See what it really looks like, thanks to the power of AI!by levocardia
6/30/2026 at 10:04:21 PM
Using it for "staging" shitty rentals is pretty gross, but I used Nano Banana to make some mockups for a bath room remodel I'm doing and it worked pretty great.by VectorLock
6/30/2026 at 8:29:24 PM
AirBnB folks are doing the same.by jszymborski
6/30/2026 at 7:54:25 PM
Instead of fighting the use of AI for home interior picture, it might be more useful to have an AI that can correct the fabricated images. If the listing includes room sizes, an AI should be able to give you more realistic images. Maybe a browser plugin that makes all content honest?by ako
6/30/2026 at 8:44:10 PM
Why would that be more useful than fighting this fraud? Surely the original images would be more realistic than one passed through AI two times.by andersonpico
7/1/2026 at 5:10:25 AM
What is an original image? A good photographer can also create a completely different impression. And it's hard to get rules applied, suing is often too expensive, for consumers, and governments need to reduce costs, so don't have the funding. It will not be enforceable enough that people wont try tampering with their picture.If you make it a technical solution, e.g., browser plugin, it become an economic opportunity that can create money instead of cost money.
by ako
7/1/2026 at 10:58:29 AM
> it become an economic opportunity that can create money instead of cost money.Cool, so money is made from lying to me, and more money is to be made from what is fundamentally still lying to me, but with somewhat different intent.
That seems like a lot of pointless economic friction that doesn't generate real value, but what do I know.
by sjsdaiuasgdia
6/30/2026 at 8:03:44 PM
That's actually illegal in most states.by IAmGraydon
6/30/2026 at 8:00:03 PM
I think it makes houses/apartment less likely to sell. When you see the idealized version, and then the reality, the impact is much bigger then just showing reality.Unless people prove me wrong, and they really fall for that...
Its like we used to be flooded with fisheye lens pictures of homes, that made the rooms way bigger then reality. I noticed that this trend (on the immo that i follow for years) has heavily reduced. Because nothing beats a sale, as people seeing something looking spacious on pictures and then in person seen its way more small/cramped/compact.
I love that new trend of 3D home viewing... It saves you so much time, and saves time for the immo people, filters out a lot of people with less interest.
by benjiro29
6/30/2026 at 8:09:16 PM
When you do get the privilege of seeing the unit in person, yeah. This is obviously the case for most home sales.But there are plenty of rental markets where you can be forced to rent without seeing that exact unit first. Common in big complexes, where you might get shown a "similar unit" or in markets where rental vacancy is so low that if you don't apply & sign within hours, you aren't getting that apartment because there's 20+ potential tenants for every rare vacancy. The current renal home I live in I rented without seeing it in person first because it was the only vacancy at the time, and in that market you must be first to sign the lease or you lose.
by thewebguyd
6/30/2026 at 9:45:11 PM
If the industry is currently so favourable to the landlord, then why would they need to alter images in the first place?by dotancohen
7/1/2026 at 3:43:13 AM
No one said they "need" to. But there is more generally more than one landlord in a market, and they might feel pressured to keep up with their competitors' use of AI.by breezybottom
7/1/2026 at 1:38:44 AM
Because it's all about revenue, and falsehoods help justify even higher prices.by ssl-3
6/30/2026 at 7:19:33 PM
There needs to be lawsuits over stuff like that. I don't get why people accept blatant false advertising just cause the tech used to do it is new. They may as well be uploading pictures of a real, nicer apartment with a similar layout. What's the difference?by hbn
6/30/2026 at 8:53:28 PM
The difference is you'll get caught a luddite and hear you're opposing progress if you try to get in the way of AI doing any and everything.by andersonpico
6/30/2026 at 9:10:34 PM
I don't think that matters in a court of law.by hbn
6/30/2026 at 7:19:41 PM
Honestly a great start up would be a review system for house listings.Users can rate how accurate the description was, the real life flaws and even upload their own photos.
Side note: last time I looked for a house I really wasted 95% of my time because every house had one unique major flaw that would have made me not even bother going to see it.
by bilsbie
6/30/2026 at 8:51:40 PM
Announcers get very touchy with listings data, so even compiling listings from multiple sources is hard without getting cease-and-desisted. Then, realtors will certainly flood competing announcements and post fake reviews. It's an aggressive market.by andersonpico
7/1/2026 at 12:17:46 AM
Honestly just market to customers that feel deceived. They just log in and enter an address and post a review. No listing data needed.You could get really sophisticated with quality checking reviews.
(We tend to believe all review systems have to be bad because that’s all we see. But most reviews systems are broken because a working system is a conflict of interest for the platform they’re on.)
by bilsbie
7/1/2026 at 11:23:26 AM
Isnt this what people have been doing for years now with their phone filters? misrepresenting their physical appearance in order to sell the idea that they are something they're notby pelagicAustral
6/30/2026 at 9:53:18 PM
The entire real estate industry is disgusting.by chickensong
7/1/2026 at 7:07:13 AM
[dead]by hansmayer