Pinterest AI Labels Are Mislabeling Real Artists’ Work (And It’s a Problem)
For a while people were saying things like “Pinterest is dead” or “Pinterest isn’t a place for artists.” And I get why people feel that way.
Pinterest used to be a place where you could find cool artwork for your home or gifts and organize it all. You could curate a collection of stuff you liked, then go back later and decide what you actually wanted to buy. You could also curate and share boards with other people. And a lot of artists used it to create mood boards, save inspiration, and get discovered.
Then Pinterest became flooded with AI (like pretty much every platform artists used did), and a lot of people felt like it wasn’t worth it anymore.
Pinterest Tried to Fix the AI Problem… But the Labels Don’t Always Work
At one point it felt like things were improving because Pinterest allowed us to change our settings so we didn’t get any AI in our feeds, and anything made with AI would be labeled.
But what happens when those labels don’t always work?
You’ll still get AI in your feed sometimes, but one of the worst parts is that you can also miss out on pins that aren’t AI. These labeling systems are automated and they don’t always get it right.
Not only have I had my fine art prints labeled as AI, but I’ve seen other real artists have their work mislabeled too.
Why This Matters (Especially on Pinterest)
This isn’t just annoying, it can actually hurt your visibility.
- If someone has their feed set to not show Gen AI pins, they may never see your work if it’s mislabeled.
- It can create doubt for people who don’t understand that the labels aren’t always accurate.
- And if you’re trying to use Pinterest for discovery, traffic, or sales, mislabeling can impact all of that.
What’s Happening With My Pins Right Now
Right now my Shopify store is connected to Pinterest and all of my Fine Art Product Pins have been mislabeled.
I’m hoping that by giving them a few examples and letting them know it’s affecting my whole product catalog, they’ll fix all of them. We’ll see. The last time I appealed a pin they were very quick to respond.
I wanted to put this out here because I’ve seen other artists affected by this too, and it helps to know you’re not alone.
UPDATE ON THIS: You have to appeal each one and you can only appeal three at a time. They did fix the three I sent, but it looks like I'm going to have to do this for all of them, which is a bummer.
How to Appeal an Inaccurate Gen AI Label on Your Pinterest Pins
- Go to the appeals contact form: Pinterest Gen AI Label Appeal Form
- Enter your information.
- Add links to the affected pins.
- Add a screenshot (if you can).
In my experience: they have responded quickly.
Is this a lasting fix? Not in my personal experience (at least not yet).
So What Can We Do as Artists?
With so much AI — and as AI improves — more and more artists are being accused of using AI, even when you can literally see them painting.
All we can do is just keep creating. There will be people who like to cause drama, and there will be people who genuinely love your work and love art. Those are the people we’re trying to connect with anyway.
But it also means we might need to show more of our process.
Showing More Process (Even for Prints)
For my products going forward, even for prints, I’m going to start showing some process shots or photos of the original artwork.
In the past I didn’t do this because I didn’t want people to be confused about what they were buying. But I think for pins this will help, especially for people who already know the AI labels are not always accurate. They’ll be able to see that there is a real person creating this artwork, and maybe they’ll click through to learn more.
The Frustrating Reality (For Now)
The only other issue is that people who have their feed set to not show Gen AI pins will never see your work if your pins are mislabeled, and that is unfortunate.
So right now we just have to keep checking, keep appealing, and hope that the Pinterest classifications get better.
If you’re dealing with this too, you’re not alone. Keep creating. The right people will find and appreciate your work.
