The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am so tired of the fluff verbage pumped out in the eBay listings lately. "must-have for any collector of vintage phonographs. Made in the United States, this piece of history is perfect for those who appreciate the craftsmanship and character of antique technology. With its beautiful blue amberol coloring and intricate design, this record is a must-have for any collector or music enthusiast. Made in the United States, it is a true piece of American history. So don't miss out on the opportunity to own this vintage treasure and add it to your collection today!......just word salad saying nothing!!!

Not being of the digital generation I had not realised that this mixture of hyperbole and techno-babble was the work of AI.
So now AI is writing eBay descriptions for those too lazy and/or ignorant to do it themselves, and this they call progress.

epigramophone wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 11:53 am So now AI is writing eBay descriptions for those too lazy and/or ignorant to do it themselves...

It's an option, if the seller wants to go that route.

I largely ignore those auctions. I think it speaks negatively of the person from whom I'm supposed to be buying.

It also irritates me to see postings on forums, such as this one and others as well, with AI generated songs, false history, poems, etc. That's just my personal take on it. Not asking/wanting/expecting anyone to stop it.

This is only a corollary comment, but a related phenomenon I've been curious about is the near-inevitable YouTube comment under any posted vintage 78 or antique cylinder recording, which generally goes along the lines of

"Thank you so much for posting this record!!!! XXXXX was my grandfather/great grandmother/great aunt's grandmother and he/she remembers him singing/playing his/her clarinet/banjo/saxophone as a little boy/girl in those long ago bygone days. It means so much to me that you have posted this as I can now imagine what it would have been like to experience his wonderful music" etc. etc. — with the occasional cordial and surprised reply from the YouTube account holder saying "Hey wow! thanks for posting this! Do you have any surviving sheet music/instruments/recordings or even just memories of your great-great-grandniece you'd like to share?" or the like, to which a response is almost never made.

Though sometimes there IS a response and it seems indeed human and legitimate, so maybe these are all real people, but there's an odd sameness to so many of them that overall they all start to seem rather ... robotic. Thing is, I don't understand what the advantage of such AI responses would be, other than making it seem as if other humans actually care about these old recordings (which, I'd imagine, 99% of humans do not.) Maybe AI just really digs old records and is subcutaneously testing out interfacing with actual meat intelligence in the only way it knows how.

Given that I do most of my record buying on eBay, I have noticed this too, and I think it is just stupid, although somewhat comedic in how obviously formulaic the AI's writing is. Sure, I get that having AI write the description might be easier for the seller, but rarely do I find that it gives the buyer any useful information on aspects of the record such as its condition, which are kind of important to know before buying 78s. For reasons such as this, I much prefer looking at antique stores, thrift shops, or even record stores for 78s, but I find myself not having much time to ever go out and spend a bunch of time in town digging through piles of 78s hoping that I'll even find one record from my wantlist. Though eBay can be frustrating to deal with, it is often simply more convenient, and that is why I use it.

FredSugarHall_fan wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 5:03 pm Given that I do most of my record buying on eBay, I have noticed this too, and I think it is just stupid, although somewhat comedic in how obviously formulaic the AI's writing is. Sure, I get that having AI write the description might be easier for the seller, but rarely do I find that it gives the buyer any useful information on aspects of the record such as its condition, which are kind of important to know before buying 78s. For reasons such as this, I much prefer looking at antique stores, thrift shops, or even record stores for 78s, but I find myself not having much time to ever go out and spend a bunch of time in town digging through piles of 78s hoping that I'll even find one record from my wantlist. Though eBay can be frustrating to deal with, it is often simply more convenient, and that is why I use it.

I just saw a description on a Magnavox where the seller let AI go for a paragraph, then opened the next with "Now for the REAL description"...

The AI on eBay is more like AS. Nothing but a bot word salad. You could get AL (Artificial Listeria) from it.

gramophone-georg wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 6:03 pm

FredSugarHall_fan wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 5:03 pm Given that I do most of my record buying on eBay, I have noticed this too, and I think it is just stupid, although somewhat comedic in how obviously formulaic the AI's writing is. Sure, I get that having AI write the description might be easier for the seller, but rarely do I find that it gives the buyer any useful information on aspects of the record such as its condition, which are kind of important to know before buying 78s. For reasons such as this, I much prefer looking at antique stores, thrift shops, or even record stores for 78s, but I find myself not having much time to ever go out and spend a bunch of time in town digging through piles of 78s hoping that I'll even find one record from my wantlist. Though eBay can be frustrating to deal with, it is often simply more convenient, and that is why I use it.

I just saw a description on a Magnavox where the seller let AI go for a paragraph, then opened the next with "Now for the REAL description"...

The AI on eBay is more like AS. Nothing but a bot word salad. You could get AL (Artificial Listeria) from it.

Could you attach a link to this? It sounds absurdly hilarious!

FredSugarHall_fan wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 6:17 pm

gramophone-georg wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 6:03 pm

FredSugarHall_fan wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 5:03 pm Given that I do most of my record buying on eBay, I have noticed this too, and I think it is just stupid, although somewhat comedic in how obviously formulaic the AI's writing is. Sure, I get that having AI write the description might be easier for the seller, but rarely do I find that it gives the buyer any useful information on aspects of the record such as its condition, which are kind of important to know before buying 78s. For reasons such as this, I much prefer looking at antique stores, thrift shops, or even record stores for 78s, but I find myself not having much time to ever go out and spend a bunch of time in town digging through piles of 78s hoping that I'll even find one record from my wantlist. Though eBay can be frustrating to deal with, it is often simply more convenient, and that is why I use it.

I just saw a description on a Magnavox where the seller let AI go for a paragraph, then opened the next with "Now for the REAL description"...

The AI on eBay is more like AS. Nothing but a bot word salad. You could get AL (Artificial Listeria) from it.

Could you attach a link to this? It sounds absurdly hilarious!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235427831713?h ... R9K4_K-zYw

gramophone-georg wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 8:48 pm

FredSugarHall_fan wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 6:17 pm

gramophone-georg wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 6:03 pm

I just saw a description on a Magnavox where the seller let AI go for a paragraph, then opened the next with "Now for the REAL description"...

The AI on eBay is more like AS. Nothing but a bot word salad. You could get AL (Artificial Listeria) from it.

Could you attach a link to this? It sounds absurdly hilarious!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235427831713?h ... R9K4_K-zYw

Thanks! That was a hilarious read! I'm glad he chose to give a real description, too!