Axios interview: Etsy CEO on Gen AI, copycat goods
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Etsy CEO Josh Silverman and Axios' Hope King at Web Summit Lisbon. Screenshot: Web Summit.
LISBON, Portugal — Small business owners and artists can boost their visibility on Etsy by sharing videos of themselves at work, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman tells Axios.
Why it matters: The platform known for being a marketplace for handmade goods has seen a flood of mass-produced products in recent years — making it more difficult for creators to stand out and compete.
Driving the news: "I'd encourage every seller to do a process video that shows them in their studio making their item," Silverman told Axios this week at the Web Summit Lisbon conference.
- "We really promote those, and we're going to be making those kinds of things more and more prominent."
Silverman's latest comments come on the heels of a July policy update to specify levels of human touch involved in the creation of a product.
- Items are labeled one of four categories: made by (physically crafted by hand or tools); designed by (original designs produced by someone else); sourced by (customized items made by someone else); and handpicked by (like vintage).
Between the lines: Many analysts cite a rule change that Etsy made a decade ago as a turning point for the company and the start of many of its most recent seller issues.
- That change allowed some creators to outsource the entire production of their goods, leading to people upselling things without ever touching the product, Sherwood News notes.
- Since then, more sellers have reported resellers and other shops stealing their designs.
The big picture: E-commerce tech has made it easier for anyone to start a shop online, leading to exponential growth in inventory and competition.
- The rise of deep discount platforms like Shein, Temu and AliExpress has made the problems worse for makers of unique products.
- To compete in the overheated environment, marketplace platforms like Etsy and even Amazon have had to tinker with policies and fees to grow their own margins, frustrating sellers and customers alike.
What we're watching: Generative AI has emerged as a new challenge for artists.
- Etsy "wrestled" with the question of whether gen AI counts as a tool, the same way a table saw or iPad are tools, Silverman says.
- "The metaphor that resonated the most with me is actually one of the most popular forms of music in the world today — electronic dance music," he said.
- "EDM is a partnership between a human and a computer to generate art, and so we decided that if it is unique art that the person has made together with Gen AI that is truly unique and different from what else is out there, it is available on the Etsy platform."
