Etsy Uses AI to Determine Human Craftsmanship

Oh, the irony. Etsy is using Artificial Intelligence to determine which of its sellers' listings have been highly crafted by human artisans. Etsy is running a test ("experiment") to see which badges it should display to shoppers when its AI bots identify such items. 

When sellers noticed the badges and began discussing them, an Etsy moderator confirmed that the marketplace was adding the badges "crafted with care" and "high craftsmanship" to certain listings as part of an ongoing test and wrote in part:

"As part of this test, a limited set of listings may show a craftsmanship-related label to help buyers better understand the item they're browsing."

Etsy consultant Cindy Baldassi reported news of the badges on her Patreon along with an analysis, including which characteristics Etsy might be using to determine when to display the badge.

She said that while some of the items she saw displaying badges weren't fully made by the shop, "I was more struck by the skilled items skipped over than the anomalous things Etsy included." However, while she said she believed it unlikely Etsy would get it right all of the time, the test could be seen as a sign that Etsy is "finally" working "to highlight greater shop owner contributions to the final product, compared to items assembled from parts or made by someone else."

Even if Etsy bots mostly get it right, though, it will no doubt smart for those who see commercially available items advertised as crafted with care while their own highly crafted pieces go without a badge. (Will those sellers have to appeal to AI bots?)

Check out Baldassi's post along with comments from sellers on her Patreon page.

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