I agree with you, the economic and ecological effects of A.I can only get worse as the industry grows. But the more immediate effect is the utter rubbish it spouts as a 'description' makes it useless when it comes to deciding whether or not to purchase an item. To me it's just a godsend to the lazy, couldn't-care-less seller and puts me off the item straight away.
I buy mostly vintage glass and as you say A.I generated descriptions, almost without exception, waffle on about 'elegance' and 'style', how the item will 'grace' any room and will 'enhance' any collection.
But also, almost without exception, is what A.I will not tell me and which is, as a collector, of vital importance -- the condition or size of the item. I presume because the condition report and dimensions are not compulsory Item Specifics, so are left blank by the lazy seller.
My guess is that they take a few photos of their item on their phone and do the listing from there, leaving A.I to fill in the Description for them. All they need to know is the price they want and let ebay do the rest with their 'suggestions', ebay will now even save them the trouble of deciding what delivery service to use.
As soon as I see an A.I description I lose interest, knowing that almost certainly it will omit the things I need to know and that I don't trust the sort of seller who uses it to provide reliable photos to evaluate the item condition.
What comes to my mind when I see A.I descriptions on ebay are photos of children in African Rare Earth mines scrabbling through piles of rock chippings with their bare hands, with bits of rag tied round their faces in an effort not to breath the clouds of dust as they look for one of the minerals that makes A.I possible.
I'd suggest that before using A.I, anyone thinking about doing so should google Child Labour in Rare Earth Mining, have a good look at the photos and decide whether what they are trying to sell is worth that cost.
