Heritage Auctions using AI for lot descriptions?
 

Last night while browsing Heritage Auctions' Sunday night auction, I saw a signed 1963 Topps card of Chicago Cubs infielder and 1962 Rookie of the Year Ken Hubbs. It caught my eye because, as many of you know, Hubbs died in a plane crash in February 1964. I can't imagine there are many autographed cards of him. Anyway, here's the Heritage description:

Signed 1963 Topps Ken Hubbs #15. Ken Hubbs was a professional baseball player who played as a second baseman for the Chicago Cubs in Major League Baseball (MLB). Hubbs was known for his exceptional defensive skills and athleticism. He won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1962, becoming the first rookie to win a Gold Glove Award. During that season, he set a record for the most consecutive errorless games by a second baseman, showcasing his reliability and skill on the field. Offered is a signed 2nd year card of the Cubs great. Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.

The beginning of the description reads like a Wikipedia entry, certainly not something an auction house would write. And what auction house writer wouldn't mention Hubbs' death at age 22 and the rarity of the signed card? I shared the write-up with a hobby friend, and his immediate reaction was "That reads like something generated by AI."

I have no issue with any auction house -- or business, for that matter -- using AI. And I should say in general -- not always -- I think Heritage does things the right way. Lord knows they are successful. But, gee, couldn't an employee at least read the description before making it live? It's not like AI has been around for decades and you always know what you're going to get.

Doesn't an auction house owe a little more effort to consignors to produce complete descriptions about the items they're selling?

It definitely reads like the AI-generated descriptions that eBay's AI generates.

Mostly a bunch of fluff and obvious statements.

Better than some of the AH (not necessarily Heritage) and ebay hype we see.

Best we've ever handled.
Amazing eye appeal.
Presents far better than the technical grade.
Blazing colors.
Near perfect centering (like we can't see that).
Just a few wrinkles that do not detract from the overall appearance.
Stunning.
Bold signature.

Hey, Pete disagrees. Must be a day ending in “y.”

What would Joe T. do?:D:D

Please cut the crap.
.

Clearly AI. He was a professional baseball player …. No auction house would write something so obvious. Same for “played as a second baseman…”. No one would write that.

Great! Now they can cut the Buyer's Premium since they are saving money on staff.

AI is taking the auction industry at large by storm. I can see it making sense for household and general goods, but think it's an odd choice for auctions where certain types of information, and a description of condition, is key.

Peter, I guess we're one of the auctions you're talking about as we use almost all of those terms (don't think I've ever written "blazing colors") We don't, however, use them for every lot.

Definitely AI, which makes sense to use for the thousands of lower-end stuff they sell every year. I don't know who is doing the job of generating descriptions, but I can imagine it's not a bunch of baseball historians customizing every lot description. Is there a way to negotiate a custom description when you're consigning?

I have no doubt in my mind that this will be an up charge service offered at some point in the future, in the vein of charging to check bags on an airplane. Take something that was once free, and just start charging for it. Screw the customers and give that CEO a fat bonus. Capitalism at its finest.

Hell yes. You'll take it, and you'll like it.

Definitely an AI description.

It's depressing, honestly.

I'm the asshole who spends seemingly 1/2 an hour apiece writing my descriptions out when I list on Ebay or my Websites.

I tried the AI function a few times on some simple items on Ebay, and I just ended up hating the descriptions so badly, I spent a bunch more time re-formatting them and editing them....and then I still hated them, because they were worded so.................I can't even put my finger on the word I'm trying to find for it....souless? :confused:

I understand why a volume seller like Heritage uses whatever they can to be more efficient.

I wish I could let things go enough to do the same with my own stuff...but my undiagnosed OCD just won't allow me to let go, and let the AI take over. :(

Thank you sir, may I have another? :/

Be the CEO, problem solved. :)

I am not sure AI descriptions for rare, pre-war cards makes more "cents" than human ones, but good luck to those using it.
.

:rolleyes:

Just another example/instance of the major auction houses cheaping out and dumbing down the services they offer to consignors.

:mad:

Depressing times we live in...

This lowest common denominator garbage might work for modern mass-produced items, but not for vintage cards and memorabilia. When it comes to consigning rare/expensive items, this is the kind of thing that makes it easy to choose REA, LOTG and even Hunt's over Heritage.

I got to believe all the auction houses will be using some form of this technology in
the future. You might wind up at a disadvantage if you don't.

All I want to read in any description is details on the condition of the card that may not be obvious in the scans. Anything else is just fluff/hype.

Can see both sides of it. For a low value piece of "filler", I don't have a real issue. Many auction houses don't even bother doing a description for mundane stuff. But to go back to the OP, if there is something unique or special about a piece and you don't even bother including it, what the hell am I paying you for? I can sell on eBay with a bland, derivative AI description.

Just wait until some auction houses start using SmartShill™️ technology.

Of course, if the technology results in low costs but even lower quality, then it could be a competitive advantage to not use it.

And when winning bids are paid at the close of auction, send out the cards immediately rather than a 14 days wait for notice to ship. Heritage is in my personal dog house at the moment, but I probably will relent when they list a card on my grail list.

You know how you can absolutely tell a human didn't compose that write-up??

Because there is no mention of WAR anywhere in the paragraph.

+1

bingo

I get all the hyperbole is just fluff and a waste of my time. Although it might induce some higher bids, so my guess is it’s here to stay.

But aside from that, I definitely enjoy learning about new issues through auction item descriptions.

Same. If there is something unique I might not know about player or card, always appreciated. Long drawn out descriptions of Lou Gehrig dying of what is now known as ALS not really that helpful.

AI for sure. I find AI writing reads like every phrase is written in air quotes.

This “baseball card” was issued by “Bowman” in the year of “1951”.

Sadly, I think they'll all go to some form of AI, if they haven't already.

I'm a big fan of REA. Their Instagram posts used to routinely have a lady displaying and promoting the items, but I just looked and they last had a live person promoting items in May 2024. Now every post describing an item sounds like a robotic computer voice. Sure, the items probably get the same amount of exposure, but the personal/human touch is gone.

Can't wait for the "Comes with a COA from Bot-29583B4R5".

I am the CEO of my company. That doesn't make being a greedy d-bag acceptable, IMO.

The former of which is usually missing!

you forgot my all time favorites that add 1K to every card...

"Fresh to the Hobby"
'Newly Discovered"

I always like....."looks nicer" "looks under graded"
They never say..."looks over graded"

https://thecollectorconnection.com/b...e?itemid=23449

https://thecollectorconnection.com/b...e?itemid=18049

https://thecollectorconnection.com/b...e?itemid=17390

https://thecollectorconnection.com/b...e?itemid=20792

Just a sample

Was specifically talking about EBay