A yarn-woven Garfield, a highland cow and a baby dragon are just some of the cute plush items displayed in the Etsy stores of crochet-pattern merchants. But shoppers at the online store, which specializes in handmade, vintage and unique goods, say the polished final products that appear in the Etsy images aren’t anything like the final products made with the patterns, and that they think the images might be made with artificial intelligence. 

Crochet, a practice of making clothing items, fabrics and collectibles out of yarn, has a thriving community on Etsy. And many enthusiasts, rather than buy the finished product, buy the patterns, which typically range from $2 to $10, that instruct them in crafting the items themselves.

An NBC News search for “crochet patterns” returned more than half a dozen storefronts with crochet pattern product listings that appear to feature dozens of AI-generated images. Etsy broadly allows AI-generated content, to the dismay of some sellers. However, Etsy requires sellers to accurately depict their products in listing photos.

In response to NBC News’ request for comment, Etsy said that its Purchase Protection Program allows buyers to receive refunds for products that don’t accurately reflect what was advertised on the platform. It also said it takes action against sellers who have been the subject of multiple complaints.  

“We want our buyers to know we have their backs — so in the rare case that a shopper receives an item that does not match the listing image or description, they can open a case and receive a full refund through our Purchase Protection Program,” Etsy said in a statement provided to NBC News. “We are deeply committed to maintaining the integrity of our marketplace and want to uplift the sellers and items that reflect the best of Etsy, which is why we take action against sellers who misrepresent their items.”

The tell-tale signs that the images showing the real crochet products are not actual photos include lighting and shadows that don’t appear photorealistic, hands and arms that are clearly computer-generated imagery (as opposed to photos) and fantasy backgrounds, like a forest setting that looks just a little too perfect. A similar result could be obtained with tools like Photoshop, but a flood of AI-generated images online has put many people on alert for potential AI-produced creations. Photoshop requires money, skill and time, while many AI generators are free and can turn a text prompt like “crochet Garfield” into an image in a few seconds. 

“The pattern looks nothing like the picture that advertised the pattern,” a one-star review on the Garfield crochet pattern said. “The image is an AI-generated image and I will never purchase from this seller again.” 

Some of the buyers wrote that they found that they could still create items that were similar to what was pictured in the product listing, like the highland cow. But others said that the instructions they received were for different patterns entirely. Even the final products that appeared similar to the listing photos contained major discrepancies, according to 48 reviews posted on 17 crochet pattern listings since August 2023 that were viewed by NBC News. Eight of the reviews speculated the listings were likely AI-generated. Six reviewers attached images of partially created crochet projects with features that didn’t match the product listings.

As companies of all sizes grapple with whether or how to use AI-generated media in advertising, consumers are left to figure out what’s real and what’s not on their own. NBC News found more than a dozen Reddit posts with hundreds of comments since May 2023 discussing the rise of suspected AI-generated images used for misleading advertising of crochet patterns on Etsy. 

AI image generators are free to use and available from major social media platforms, like Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram and recently launched its Imagine AI generator tool. With text inputs like “crochet baby yoda in a forest,” “simple crochet highland cow,” and “crochet cute fox,” NBC News was able to make near-replications of some of the pattern images on Etsy.