According to foreign media including the Guardian on Sunday, the British woman rented an apartment in Manhattan, New York for a short period of time through Airbnb, a shared lodging platform. However, she decided to cancel her contract in two and a half months as she judged that her security was lax.
After eviction, A received a claim for compensation, saying that many of the furniture in the accommodation was damaged. The host claimed a total of 12,000 pounds of damage, saying that he needed to repair sofas, microwaves, TVs, and air conditioners along with photos of damage such as broken coffee tables, mattresses with urine stains and damaged robot vacuum cleaners.
After reviewing the photo, Airbnb notified A of his decision to reimburse him for £5314.
However, he refuted that he used the hotel cleanly and only had two visitors during his stay. He raised the possibility that the coffee table gold in the photo was manipulated by AI, saying that it looks different at different angles.
“A witness who was with us at the time of the check-out can testify that the accommodation was clean and intact,” A said. “It is the same item in the picture of the wooden table provided by the host, but the shape was different for each picture. This is a clear sign of manipulation,” he claimed.
Afterwards, Airbnb accepted A’s appeal and refunded him £500. When A said he would never use Airbnb again, he offered to refund an additional £854, one-fifth of the deposit.
However, A refused to do so, and eventually Airbnb returned the full reservation fee of £4,269.
A said, “This case has confirmed the possibility of evidence manipulation caused by AI,” adding, “We hope that similar victims will be less able to raise objections due to the burden of legal disputes.”
He also added, “It is a problem that Airbnb recognized such data even though there was an investigation process,” adding, “We need to prevent such methods from working in the future.”
After the incident was reported, Airbnb apologized to A and started an internal review. “We deal with damage claims seriously,” Airbnb said. “An expert team reviews all the evidence and makes a fair decision. It is possible to appeal the decision.”
Meanwhile, the controversial host was reportedly a “super host” who received a high rating from Airbnb. Airbnb said the host was warned of violating the terms and conditions and added that it will delete the account if similar reports are received in the future.
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
