That Airbnb Listing Is Lying to You — AI Wrote the Photos

Josh Wells went to Montreal excited for his first trip outside the U.S. — then noticed the artwork text in his Airbnb listing was jumbled gibberish. The photos, host pictures included, looked AI-generated.

How to spot the fakes

• Mangled text: signs, book spines, artwork lettering that dissolves into nonsense.
• Too-perfect hosts: plastic skin, dead eyes, identical smiles across "different" people.
• Impossible rooms: windows defying physics, furniture melting into floors.
• Reverse-image search anything that feels staged.

Toronto traveller rules

The 6ix travels heavy — Montreal weekends, New York day trips, island winters. A fake listing doesn't just ruin a trip; in a strange city it can strand you. Screenshot everything, pay in-app only, and trust the gibberish-text test: if the wall art can't spell, the host can't be trusted.

Sources: CBC News. Context from the Young Hadene newsroom.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spot AI Airbnb photos?

Look for gibberish text in artwork, plastic-looking hosts and physically impossible rooms.

What happened in Montreal?

Traveller Josh Wells flagged AI-looking listing and profile photos on his first U.S.-exit trip.