by The popular auction site Bring a Trailer, which sells cars for enthusiasts, found itself at the center of a scandal due to the use of artificial intelligence. Instead of a rare specimen, the lot that sparked discussion was one where the photos were created using AI.
What Happened with the Cadillac
Last weekend, an auction for a 1999 Cadillac DeVille appeared on the site. Users, who meticulously scrutinize details in the comments, very quickly noticed that something was off with some of the photos. They discovered serious inconsistencies that neither the seller nor the Bring a Trailer team seemed to have noticed.
The most obvious “glitches” included floor mats in the interior that exactly replicated the cobblestone pattern of the driveway beneath the car, and a shot of the engine bay where the front fascia was completely missing, as if the car was being disassembled. On at least one photo, there appeared to be two gear shift levers on the steering column. Users immediately began pointing out these absurd details.
“Alright, come on, we all know the 1999 DeVille is 20 feet long on the left side, 14 feet on the right, somewhere between 25 and 30 cobblestones wide, and could be ordered with the rare ‘no A-pillar’ option,” wrote one user in the comments.
The Auction House’s Reaction
Bring a Trailer did not attempt to deny the problem. Initially, site representatives stated they were “working with the seller to obtain additional images.” However, this only added fuel to the fire, because if the original photos are suspicious, “more photos” is not a solution to the problem.
Soon, the auction was halted. The explanation stated that since the seller could not quickly provide more photos, the best course of action was to stop the listing, as the platform “cannot in good faith allow this auction to continue.”
More interesting was the extended comment from Howard Swig, head of the auction department. He called the incident a “huge mistake” with “multiple failure points” and emphasized that the selection and quality control process at Bring a Trailer is “very human” and does not rely on algorithms or artificial intelligence. “We screwed up here and we own it,” he stated.
The Seller’s Goal and Loss of Trust
There is no suggestion that the seller or Bring a Trailer intentionally wanted to deceive buyers. It seems the seller simply wanted to get a better, more attractive background for their images using AI. The same car, but more clicks and higher bids. Theoretically, artificial intelligence could have improved the photos, but instead it introduced a multitude of errors and undermined trust in the world’s most famous auction platform for car enthusiasts, as well as in what was likely an honest, 81,000-mile Cadillac.
Online auctions heavily rely on photographs as proof of a car’s condition and specification, which often tell more than a text description. But when buyers start doubting these images, they start doubting the entire process.
“One of the main reasons many of us trust Bring a Trailer is the consistently high standard of listings and the expectation that sellers provide genuine, well-vetted content. Allowing this kind of thing to be posted undermines that trust and reflects poorly on the platform as a whole,” wrote one of the users.
The Future of AI in the Automotive World
Undoubtedly, Bring a Trailer will tighten its policies and add checks, but this is not the last time AI will sneak into a listing gallery. It is quite likely that while this lot was the first to be exposed, the technology has already been used on various trading platforms worldwide without raising suspicion. As noted by a Carscoops colleague, it’s surprising this hasn’t happened earlier and on such a scale.
Frankly, as the technology develops, it’s only a matter of time before we also fall for this hook here at Carscoops. Maybe it already has, and we just haven’t noticed. We are all still in the awkward early days of artificial intelligence, trying to figure out what to do with this new digital toolkit and how it can help us. But, like any learning process, it won’t be as smooth as fresh asphalt; it will be bumpy, like… cobblestone.
This incident vividly demonstrates how fragile trust can be in the digital age, especially in areas like collector cars where every detail matters. Trust-based platforms are now forced to balance between technological progress that can facilitate sales and the need to maintain absolute transparency. For now, human oversight and community critical thinking remain the most effective tools for detecting deception, even when it’s veiled by advanced software. The future of online trading seems to require not only new rules but also a new culture of caution from both sides of the screen.
