Was this catalog description written by AI?
MrEureka
Posts: 24,650 ✭✭✭✭✭
Not to bash any specific auction company or cataloger, especially because I’m sure it’s the way they’re all heading, but what do you think about this lot description?
“ Unveiling a true numismatic marvel, this exquisite offering rightfully stands in a league of its own. Distinguished as extremely rare, the census data from both NCG and PCGS reveal that this is the highest graded and only certified Mint State piece known. Its allure is made even more profound by a beautiful champagne-lemon luster that imbues the coin with a mesmerizing glow to the crisp surfaces. Every aspect benefits from a well-executed strike and centering, showcasing the craftmanship's precision of its time. By marrying rarity with its superior grade and stunning visuals, this praiseworthy coin represents a landmark of numismatic excellence.”
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Comments
Does AI bid on and buy coins on its own?
Not AI, but an obvious Heritage cataloger.
That sure sounds like an AI model trained on previous florid descriptions. I know one auction company says upfront they use AI... I thought the results on the lots I looked at there were middling to bad. Going in the opposite direction, some of the Richard August lots at Stacks had no description at all on some very rare coins. Will be interesting to see how it shakes out, I certainly prefer no description to over the top nonsense.
Ponterio never used to put adjectival descriptions on their lots. Just (some of) the facts.
Who better to ask than AI? Response:
This text has several hallmarks of being written or heavily polished by an AI. While it is certainly possible for a person to write in this style, the specific structure and vocabulary used are common patterns in generative language models.
Here is a breakdown of the "AI-coded" elements found in that paragraph:
1. "Adjective-Noun" Overload
AI often relies on a high density of superlative adjectives to create a sense of prestige. Phrases like "profound allure," "mesmerizing glow," and "praiseworthy coin" are used to inflate the tone. In contrast, professional numismatic descriptions tend to be more clinical or concise, letting the grade and rarity speak for themselves.
2. Standard AI Transitions
The structure of the sentences follows a very predictable flow:
* The Hook: "Unveiling a true numismatic marvel..."
* The Evidence: "Distinguished as extremely rare..."
* The Sensory Detail: "Its allure is made even more profound by..."
* The Conclusion: "By marrying rarity with its superior grade..."
The phrase "By marrying [X] with [Y]" is a classic AI trope used to tie a summary together.
3. Mixed Metaphors
The description of "champagne-lemon luster" that gives a "mesmerizing glow to the crisp surfaces" is very evocative, but it feels like a linguistic "hallucination" of how a coin expert talks. While "champagne" is a common term for toning, "lemon luster" is less standard, and the combination feels like the AI is trying a bit too hard to be poetic.
4. Excessive Praise
Human catalogers—especially those at major auction houses—usually balance praise with technical data. Using phrases like "rightfully stands in a league of its own" and "landmark of numismatic excellence" within a single paragraph is often a sign of an AI prompted to "write a persuasive and high-end description."
Verdict: It is highly likely this was generated by an AI or written using an AI-powered "marketing copy" template. A human expert would typically focus more on the specific historical significance or the technical nuances of the die state rather than using so many floral descriptors.
1881-S $1 in 63?
Latin American Collection
I think it's unlikely that Heritage used AI to generate descriptions back in 2023.
I see now that if you plug champagne-lemon into acsearch, you get 25 results, all from Heritage in the past few years. Sounds like someone's trying to make fetch happen.
I suspect that if an AI is tasked with generating a specific quantity of verbiage, and it struggles to do so within the parameters given to it by the prompt, then it will generate extra verbiage by (a) increasing the voluminosity of the effluvious adjectives, or (b) by making stuff up.
Re: "champagne-lemon": do we have a picture of the coin in question? Would an actual human numismatist be tempted to describe the toning colour using such words? Or has the AI been tasked with "describing the colour" so it looks at the picture then goes to Shutterstock to find out what humans call things of that colour?
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
I think AI has been writing wine reviews for decades.
Reads like AI spits out.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Bob Uecker
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
"Juuuuuuuuust a bit outside."
For those of us w/Knicks exposure, I'm thinking more Walt "Clyde" Flazier!
AI here is just taking the previous old vomit-inducing BS written by frustrated English majors and fluffing it up and down and around. Almost better that it's computer-generated b/c it sounds even more ridiculous out of an actual human. Eh, whatever.
But hey, I read that script (cursive) and textbooks are making a comeback so...
Now only if I could find a Sport Coat like that for my next appearance at the NY Int bourse floor.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.