Please stop putting AI-generated food on the menu
Restaurants are using AI-generated food photos to save money, but the 'AI slop' images are driving potential customers away.
AI-generated food images are causing distress and disbelief among diners, with some comparing the unnaturally perfect dishes to scenes from a Lovecraftian horror story. Over the weekend, tech reporter Sam Biddle shared a deli sign featuring what appeared to be a dozen shrimp-shaped bagels and round piles of perfectly smooth pasta.
Users quickly flooded social media with their own sightings of bizarre AI-generated food ads in delis, restaurants, food trucks, fairs, and even mailboxes. Some complained about suspiciously perfect cheesesteaks and sandwiches whose ingredients seemed to fuse together, while others posted burgers with unusual buns and fillings resembling mushrooms or tentacles.
The issue extends beyond restaurants, as quirky, low-budget signage is being replaced by grotesque, uncanny monoslop. While communications executive Jules Mossler acknowledged that small businesses may turn to AI tools for cheaper advertising, she argued that these images erase the handmade details people appreciate about local businesses.
The backlash against AI-generated images is part of a larger revolt against the synthetic content flooding the internet, with platforms like Pinterest and Snapchat introducing controls to limit AI-generated material. The uncanny effect of AI-generated food is strong enough to provoke a physical response, with some users experiencing trypophobia, an aversion to clusters of small holes or bumps.
Written by urgent.news from Mashable's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
