A Toronto real estate listing with fantastical renderings generated by artificial intelligence has raised questions about what the limits are for digital photo manipulation.
There were 21 photos in the original listing : six show the actual building in its current state of bare brick and wood under pealing paint, and 15 show elaborate renderings generated by AI. The images take the trend of virtual staging – where computer generated furniture and fixtures are added to real estate photos of empty rooms – to a new level.
“When we are asked to remove a condo from a window, we refuse. What if people come and they say: ‘There’s a condo … there was a clear sky in the picture what is going on?’ You’ve got to stay way off from misrepresenting the property,” he said. Mr. Lloyd said Bella watermarks any image it substantially alters, and while it has experimented with AI the technology’s drawbacks mean the company prefers to stick with its team of human editors and designers.
Mr. Francis made clear in an interview with The Globe and Mail that those are only possible uses, though not currently permitted.