AI-edited property photos change room proportions, Yle finds

AI-edited images in Finnish property listings have altered room proportions and replaced features such as cupboards and tiles, an examination by public broadcaster Yle found.

Yle reviewed listings for two homes from two estate agencies. Both used original photographs alongside AI-generated images, which carried watermarks indicating they had been edited. Finland’s Competition and Consumer Authority says it has received some contacts about the practice. Its special adviser, Henna Ekman, warned that using edited images to speed up sales could lead to problems.

According to Finland’s Transport and Communications Agency, a watermark identifying an image as AI-generated is generally sufficient. Guidance for estate agencies says the use of AI should be clearly disclosed and that original and edited images should ideally appear next to each other.

Tuomas Viljamaa, chief executive of the Central Federation of Finnish Real Estate Agencies, said the examples found by Yle were contrary to good brokerage practice. Incorrect images could also expose an agent to liability for damages.

Kiinteistömaailma chief executive Mika Laurikainen said the company instructs agents to place the original image beside an AI-edited one, with a clear watermark identifying it as digitally staged or AI-edited. In one listing reviewed by Yle, the edited and original images were not adjacent, and the listing text did not mention AI. Laurikainen said the listing would be reviewed and action taken if necessary.

Laurikainen said changes to room proportions or the locations of doors and kitchens were unacceptable. Structural beams, walls, light fittings and windows must remain in their actual positions, he said. The company trains staff regularly on using AI, and has previously removed images when edits went too far.

In a Remax Finland listing reviewed by Yle, the first three images were marked “AI visualised”, while the fourth was an original photograph. Remax Finland chief executive Pasi Aalto said the listing followed the company’s approved practice, though he said he would personally have included the original image.