Nowadays, artificial intelligence is developing rapidly, and AI-generated images have gradually penetrated into all aspects of the e-commerce industry with the advantages of high efficiency and lifelikeness. This technology has also been abused by some unscrupulous merchants and become a tool for false marketing. Open the comment area of the e-commerce platform, and a large number of exquisite buyer shows generated by AI have replaced the actual photos shared by real users. The picture quality is exquisite and the effect is perfect, but it is far from the actual product. Whose trust is being overdrawn by the AI buyer show in the comment area?
Generate a perfect “buyer show” in just a few minutes
AI generated pictures are abused by unscrupulous merchants TAGPH11Some time ago, when Ms. Luo, a fashion blogger on a social platform, was selecting and purchasing products, she noticed that the merchant comment area was full of "buyer shows" with a strong AI flavor. Out of curiosity and because the product was not expensive, Ms. Luo decided to buy it to see the effect. “I tried to buy a few pieces of winter clothes that cost less than 100 yuan. The styles I got were very poor and the quality was mediocre. When buying cheap clothes, I at least need to know the approximate fit. , it only has AI pictures, and it has the feeling of ‘opening a blind box’.”
Ms. Luo said that the AI-generated buyer show in the comment area does not have any source label. "The buyer show and product details page are made by AI. Can you tell me? I can rely on my own judgment to decide whether to buy this dress or not, instead of drawing an AI picture. I feel like I am being deceived."
△Screenshot of the comment area
The proliferation of AI buyer shows is rooted in the profit-seeking psychology of some merchants. In the e-commerce competition, positive reviews and sales volume are the keys for merchants to obtain traffic, and the low cost and high efficiency of AI generation technology provide convenience for merchants to "generate positive reviews and build reputation."
Senior photographer Ms. Yang told reporters that compared to hiring real models to take photos and encourage real consumers to post orders, AI-generated photos do not require model fees or commissions, and can generate a set of nearly perfect buyer shows in just a few minutes, significantly reducing merchants’ operating and traffic costs.
“The lowest price for photography is 50 yuan a piece, and it can be more expensive, 200 to 300 yuan a piece. The AI only needs to send a photo and then say the password. You can get all 10 colors on your body. And there is a risk in stealing pictures. If you are caught by the genuine store, you will have to pay money. You don’t have to pay a cent if you use AI. If you change the face, there will be no infringement. Right.”
AI Buyer Showmay bring temporary traffic and sales, but looking at In the long run, false propaganda will consume consumers' trust. Once consumers find that they have been misled, they will not only return goods and refunds, but also give negative reviews, complain to the merchant, and even spread negative reputation, leading to the collapse of the merchant's reputation and the loss of customers.
AI generated pictures need to indicate the source of the picture TAGPH44
The platform should improve the review mechanism
Reporters searching social platforms also noticed that many tutorial posts posted by bloggers directly pointed to using AI to complete the entire process of product production for free. "The materials come out in less than a minute. These can be used to post on social platforms, create details page photos, or publish buyer shows."
As an important carrier for e-commerce transactions, the platform plays a key role in managing the chaos of AI buyer shows. A reporter's investigation found that although most e-commerce platforms clearly require in their rules that the review content and pictures posted by buyers must be the true content of the goods purchased, and fabricated user reviews are prohibited, in actual implementation, the problem of imperfect review mechanisms is more prominent.
Huang Yinxu, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Digital Economy and Digital Governance Legal Research Association, believes that it is understandable for businesses to use AI to generate model images while reducing costs, but the key point is to clearly mark the source of the image. The current law clearly divides the rights and responsibilities of merchants for false or misleading commercial promotions.
“If you deliberately use artificial intelligence to generate wrong pictures and produce wrong guidance, it may involve false propaganda, which is clearly prohibited by the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China." If the operator himself writes a good review in the comment area, other operators can report it. There are also some operators who use AI-generated pictures in Placing false negative reviews in other people’s comment areas is also prohibited by law.”
Huang Yinxu suggested that the management of AI buyer show chaos cannot be accomplished by a single entity. It requires the coordinated efforts of consumers, merchants, platforms, and regulatory authorities to return AI technology to its essence of “enabling the industry” rather than a tool for false propaganda.
“On the one hand, the platform should strengthen technical follow-up and use technical means to check the generated graphs of AI. On the other hand, it should also guide consumers to pay attention to the situations generated by artificial intelligence. At the same time, it can also use seven-day no-reason returns and post-event supervision measures to force operators to reduce the use of AI misguidance and false propaganda.”