Celebrity deepfakes and fabricated political content are already familiar online hazards. A newer version of the problem, however, is showing up in gardening marketplaces: seeds being sold for flowers that do not exist.
What's happening?
On Etsy, eBay, and Amazon, shoppers can find supposedly "rare" seeds marketed with promises of blooms shaped like cat heads, birds, or butterflies.
Citing 404 Media, Security Boulevard reported that sellers are using generative AI to make realistic-looking pictures of fantasy flowers with unusual color blends and unnatural forms. Because those images can be created almost instantly, the scam is cheap and easy to produce.
The outlet also spotted a seller charging about $5.75 for "cat-face flower" seeds. While there is a real cat-faced orchid, it looks nothing like the exaggerated, literal cat-faced flower shown in the listing images.
Why does it matter?
In markets where photos do much of the selling, AI gives scammers a fast way to build fake product catalogs at scale.
The losses may be relatively small per purchase, but they add up to wasted money and time. It also undermines trust in online marketplaces that many people use for legitimate small-business shopping.
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And while AI tools can help society in meaningful ways, they can also require large amounts of electricity and water through energy-hungry data centers. In this case, AI opens the door to misuse, fraud, and security risks, which can result in even higher costs that can ripple through the grid and consumers' bills.
What can I do?
Be wary of online listings showing flowers with impossibly sharp gradients, unusual animal-shaped blooms, or colors that look more like digital art than botany.
Buying from established nurseries, local garden centers, seed libraries, or well-known seed companies can reduce the risk. If you do buy through a major marketplace, use payment methods with buyer protections and report suspicious listings so platforms have a better chance of taking them down.
Major marketplaces are still struggling to catch up with AI-generated product fraud, so shoppers may have to do more of their own screening for now.
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