The apartment in the StreetEasy photo is bright, airy, and a shade roomier than the walls actually permit. Under a plan from New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, that listing would soon have to confess the touch-up.
On 16 July his administration published the Rental Ripoff Report, a 23-point agenda drawn from the testimony of more than 2,400 tenants.
Its most modern idea would compel landlords and brokers to disclose when a listing image has been digitally altered, AI edits included, the sort of labelling that platforms already reach for when they auto-label AI-generated videos.
Enforcement would fall to the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, which would draft the rules.
The premise is blunt, that edited photographs can make a flat look larger, brighter, or better kept than it is, a gap even the watermarking tools built to catch deepfakes struggle to close once an image is loose online.The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
