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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

by plants 2mo ago

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)

evolve2k 2mo ago
During the press conference he finished with a light joke that was something like “after all it’s meant to be Street Easy not Street Hard”. I assumed that was an app, your post unintentionally closed the loop for me! Agree AI modified listing make no sense to allow; regulation here is making up for platform failure.
- eloisius 2mo ago
  Apartment hunting is an unpleasant chore I haven’t had to do since 2022. It hadn’t even occurred to me that AI slop would be the norm. I really have lived to see man-made horrors beyond my comprehension.
- gorgoiler 2mo ago
  I tried searching for Flatbush on streeteasy.com and typing “Fla” into the neighborhood typeahead gave me: Chelsea [blank] Flatiron Murray Hill Flatbush Delete the three letters and search for “Bush”: Chelsea Chelsea Chelsea Murray Hill Street Hard indeed.
Eridrus 2mo ago
It's super annoying, but this is a total nothing burger because he doesn't actually have any power to do anything here. This has also been a problem long before AI with "virtually staged" apartments.
- kennywinker 2mo ago
  > he doesn't actually have any power to do anything here. Landlords in nyc are doing business in nyc, which means the city can regulate them, does it not?
  - deleted 2mo ago
    [deleted]
  - Eridrus 2mo ago
    The Mayor is not a dictator and can't just make up laws or regulations. He can probably get DCWP to engage in the normal rule making process, but at most this is probably going to get some AI disclosure somewhere, which is what we had for "virtually staged" lies.
    - weakfish 2mo ago
      It’s directing the city to treat it as false advertising in existing law if I understand correctly
      - Eridrus 2mo ago
        Right, which is why all we're going to get it a label saying that AI was used (or maybe landlords will try to fly through on the label of "virtually staged" that they've been using). Existing law doesn't have the authority to ban all AI images as inherently deceptive, and DCWP isn't going to be spending a bunch of time prosecuting individual images. I agree with Mamdani that these images are often deceptive and misleading and sifting through the bullshit is annoying (and was annoying with virtually staged images too). It's just not going to go anywhere. The energy would be better spent on zoning and building code reform.
        enraged_camel 2mo ago
        I take it you are a lawyer specializing in NY real estate law, then? Would be interesting to hear a more detailed analysis if so.
- thenayr 2mo ago
  Why are you so certain of this? Oh it was a problem before so we should just keep doing nothing even though it will almost certainly become exponentially worse with AI? Love this plan.
  - Eridrus 2mo ago
    I am so certain of this because I was not born yesterday and this is not my first time paying attention to (NYC) politics. Politician makes a grand statement they do not have the authority to meaningfully act on to get headlines, DCWP issues a weak sauce disclosure rule and the news cycle moves on because this is not actually anybody's priority.
filoleg 2mo ago
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 apartments is a major pain, because majority have zero square footage info. And then it turns into a pure guessing game that becomes super annoying, because an apartment I might be interested in is listed only as "1 bedroom", but just looking at the pics it is impossible to gauge whether it is 400sqft or 900sqft. Knowing that info would have made it much easier for renters, and I cannot think of a logical reason to not provide that information.
- hbarka 2mo ago
  > and I cannot think of a logical reason to not provide that information. The reason is simple. Omission is deception.
  - LgWoodenBadger 2mo ago
    If it had a “good” square footage, it would be touted front and center. Because it’s not, you know it doesn’t. I see this all the time with motorcycle PPE. If something was CE A, AA, or AAA rated, it’d be at the top of the description/specs. When it’s not, I know it’s not so I just move on.
    - drivingmenuts 2mo ago
      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.
      - sidewndr46 2mo ago
        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.
vitorgrs 2mo ago
I wish there would be a similar thing for food as well. In my country (Brazil), food apps such as iFood are FULL of AI images. Worse is that iFood don't allow reviews to post pictures, so you get very blind asking it. Now Didi came (99) and Keeta, and they at least allow users to post reviews with pictures.
qurren 2mo ago
The motivation is good, the implementation sucks. > requiring disclosure of AI-altered listings So all the landlords will just disclose it and everyone will continue to be deceived. Just like every other picture on Meta platforms these days says it is AI-edited. That didn't make the feed any better; it's still a feed full of disclosed AI crap. Why is this mayor so fucking chicken to just BAN AI-altered listings altogether? Have jail time and $1M fines for it. Fines big enough that you would risk losing your property altogether. We need more real leaders.
- idiotsecant 2mo ago
  Relax. This post is wildly aggressive for no reason.
  - qurren 2mo ago
    I'm just tired of regulators realizing the right things to regulate but not implementing them correctly. Job postings must include a salary range? Who the fuck thought of that? Did they even ask a mathematician whether providing the min() and max() would be useful rather than mean(), median(), and std(), which is what the law really should require?
    - sokoloff 2mo ago
      How many people who are considering hiring their first few employees have an idea of what the minimum they’d likely pay and the maximum they’d likely pay for those new positions? Almost all. Now how many could even tell you the rough definition of standard deviation, let alone be able to give a value for it? Almost none. As an applicant for a single opening, it’s not obvious that standard deviation is helpful either. For normal people, I think that min and max are the two most practical and understandable measures.
      - master-lincoln 2mo ago
        we need less normal people

by plants 2mo ago

evolve2k 2mo ago

During the press conference he finished with a light joke that was something like “after all it’s meant to be Street Easy not Street Hard”. I assumed that was an app, your post unintentionally closed the loop for me! Agree AI modified listing make no sense to allow; regulation here is making up for platform failure.

eloisius 2mo ago
Apartment hunting is an unpleasant chore I haven’t had to do since 2022. It hadn’t even occurred to me that AI slop would be the norm. I really have lived to see man-made horrors beyond my comprehension.
gorgoiler 2mo ago
I tried searching for Flatbush on streeteasy.com and typing “Fla” into the neighborhood typeahead gave me: Chelsea [blank] Flatiron Murray Hill Flatbush Delete the three letters and search for “Bush”: Chelsea Chelsea Chelsea Murray Hill Street Hard indeed.

Eridrus 2mo ago

It's super annoying, but this is a total nothing burger because he doesn't actually have any power to do anything here. This has also been a problem long before AI with "virtually staged" apartments.

kennywinker 2mo ago
> he doesn't actually have any power to do anything here. Landlords in nyc are doing business in nyc, which means the city can regulate them, does it not?
- deleted 2mo ago
  [deleted]
- Eridrus 2mo ago
  The Mayor is not a dictator and can't just make up laws or regulations. He can probably get DCWP to engage in the normal rule making process, but at most this is probably going to get some AI disclosure somewhere, which is what we had for "virtually staged" lies.
  - weakfish 2mo ago
    It’s directing the city to treat it as false advertising in existing law if I understand correctly
    - Eridrus 2mo ago
      Right, which is why all we're going to get it a label saying that AI was used (or maybe landlords will try to fly through on the label of "virtually staged" that they've been using). Existing law doesn't have the authority to ban all AI images as inherently deceptive, and DCWP isn't going to be spending a bunch of time prosecuting individual images. I agree with Mamdani that these images are often deceptive and misleading and sifting through the bullshit is annoying (and was annoying with virtually staged images too). It's just not going to go anywhere. The energy would be better spent on zoning and building code reform.
      - enraged_camel 2mo ago
        I take it you are a lawyer specializing in NY real estate law, then? Would be interesting to hear a more detailed analysis if so.
thenayr 2mo ago
Why are you so certain of this? Oh it was a problem before so we should just keep doing nothing even though it will almost certainly become exponentially worse with AI? Love this plan.
- Eridrus 2mo ago
  I am so certain of this because I was not born yesterday and this is not my first time paying attention to (NYC) politics. Politician makes a grand statement they do not have the authority to meaningfully act on to get headlines, DCWP issues a weak sauce disclosure rule and the news cycle moves on because this is not actually anybody's priority.

filoleg 2mo ago

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 apartments is a major pain, because majority have zero square footage info. And then it turns into a pure guessing game that becomes super annoying, because an apartment I might be interested in is listed only as "1 bedroom", but just looking at the pics it is impossible to gauge whether it is 400sqft or 900sqft. Knowing that info would have made it much easier for renters, and I cannot think of a logical reason to not provide that information.

hbarka 2mo ago
> and I cannot think of a logical reason to not provide that information. The reason is simple. Omission is deception.
- LgWoodenBadger 2mo ago
  If it had a “good” square footage, it would be touted front and center. Because it’s not, you know it doesn’t. I see this all the time with motorcycle PPE. If something was CE A, AA, or AAA rated, it’d be at the top of the description/specs. When it’s not, I know it’s not so I just move on.
  - drivingmenuts 2mo ago
    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.
    - sidewndr46 2mo ago
      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.

vitorgrs 2mo ago

I wish there would be a similar thing for food as well. In my country (Brazil), food apps such as iFood are FULL of AI images. Worse is that iFood don't allow reviews to post pictures, so you get very blind asking it. Now Didi came (99) and Keeta, and they at least allow users to post reviews with pictures.

qurren 2mo ago

The motivation is good, the implementation sucks. > requiring disclosure of AI-altered listings So all the landlords will just disclose it and everyone will continue to be deceived. Just like every other picture on Meta platforms these days says it is AI-edited. That didn't make the feed any better; it's still a feed full of disclosed AI crap. Why is this mayor so fucking chicken to just BAN AI-altered listings altogether? Have jail time and $1M fines for it. Fines big enough that you would risk losing your property altogether. We need more real leaders.

idiotsecant 2mo ago
Relax. This post is wildly aggressive for no reason.
- qurren 2mo ago
  I'm just tired of regulators realizing the right things to regulate but not implementing them correctly. Job postings must include a salary range? Who the fuck thought of that? Did they even ask a mathematician whether providing the min() and max() would be useful rather than mean(), median(), and std(), which is what the law really should require?
  - sokoloff 2mo ago
    How many people who are considering hiring their first few employees have an idea of what the minimum they’d likely pay and the maximum they’d likely pay for those new positions? Almost all. Now how many could even tell you the rough definition of standard deviation, let alone be able to give a value for it? Almost none. As an applicant for a single opening, it’s not obvious that standard deviation is helpful either. For normal people, I think that min and max are the two most practical and understandable measures.
    - master-lincoln 2mo ago
      we need less normal people