Your Personal Shopper On eBay? Artificial Intelligence

Part of the thrill of buying vintage design is in hunting down great finds. That process loses its appeal online, where buyers face an overwhelming quantity of listings, a lack of consistency in how pieces are identified, and, occasionally, outright mislabeling. This week, eBay announced Collective, a new section of the site that uses artificial intelligence along with in-house curation to make it easier for shoppers to sift through the company's 1 billion-plus listings and get their design fix. EBay describes Collective as a "bespoke experience" and features furniture, antiques, contemporary design, and fine art from 21 hand-picked dealers; product collections assembled with an editorial eye; and straightforward Pinterest-like pages of tables, seating, lamps, case goods, and more. But the potential gamechanger is the use of artificial intelligence in a "Get the Look" feature that scans listings to find products that have similar traits to objects in room vignettes.