Etsy bans AI-made patterns and recipes. Every platform needs the same ladder

Etsy has banned the sale of AI-generated "functional guides": patterns, recipes and instructions, usually sold as digital downloads. Buyers put effort into reaching a finished product, Etsy argues, and that effort is wasted if no human ever tested the guide. Sellers must now show a real item made with the instructions and at least one unedited photo of it. AI-assisted art stays allowed if the seller plays a clear role and discloses it. Many buyers say they cannot tell which items involve AI, and that confusion is one of the top three barriers to shopping more (CNBC).

Others use lighter tools for the same trust problem. Swiss marketplaces introduced a voluntary "Created with AI" label for ads in 2024 (netzwoche). In music, after Australia's ARIA excluded songs made entirely or mainly with AI from its charts, industry bodies elsewhere are examining how to detect fully AI-generated titles (SRF).

Together these cases form a ladder: label it, verify it, or ban it where the value depends on a human. Where the product is the result of human effort, AI without proof is a defect. Where it is decoration, disclosure is enough.

That ladder is good news for skilled hands. Human origin is becoming a selling point, as at agujabailarina.com, where uniforms are made to measure by artisans in Líbano, Tolima. Helping people turn a craft into an online business is one of the ways we upskill those who lost their jobs.

Practical step: sort your offers into three groups (AI fine, AI with disclosure, human proof required) and write the rule for each into your terms.