That food looks so good … it is probably an AI generated image
At her new Substack User Mag, former Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz discusses a trend that possibly no one expected: virtual restaurants
Ethos_atx, which claims to be Austin’s number one restaurant, has nearly 73,000 Instagram followers, reams of positive reviews on its highlights, and photos of seemingly mouth watering food. There is a link to a reservations page. It all looks like a pretty normal restaurant IG account.
But when you look closer, every single thing from the photos of the food, to the venue, is AI generated. The posts from the restaurant get thousands of likes and shares, many from people who don’t seem to realize it’s all fake. “These are so cute! Tiny greens with big flavor,” a business account for a micro greens company commented on a recent post of AI generated micro greens.
“The ‘#1 restaurant in Austin’ doesn’t exist,” October 14, 2024
It probably doesn’t matter how much of this video is real.
In Lorenz’s view, Ethos_atx’s main purpose appears to be selling AI-generated gear: “fake, AI generated oil paintings of food, phone cases with AI generated images, t-shirts with AI generated art, stickers, and clothing with the Ethos brand name emblazoned on the front.”
Is it a business? A scam? Someone’s bad trip? She doesn’t know. She points out, however, that AI-generated images are becoming increasingly common in the food industry.
Why the popularity of AI food images?
Customers prefer AI-generated images to images of real food, Oxford researchers say — so long as they don’t know that a chosen image is AI-generated. When they do know, the preferences for AI or real life are equal. But in ordinary life on the internet, customers don’t have to know, do they? (The paper is open access.)
AI-generated images are also cheaper to produce. Real-life food styling — preparing food for the camera — is an art and, well, artists must be compensated.
The Food Institute warns,
… the study raises concerns about how AI imagery could potentially foster unrealistic expectations about how natural foods should look and potentially harm sustainability efforts such as the promotion of “ugly” fruits and vegetables.
Consistent exposure to picture-perfect dishes could also influence unhealthy eating behaviors at a time when American diets are already under heavy scrutiny.
Grace Garwood, “New Study Exposes the Power (and Pitfalls) of AI-Generated Food Images,” March 25, 2024
Yes indeed. When you are a rutabaga turnip, it’s already hard enough — at best — to compete with a boat of French fries, hot out of the deep fryer. And how much can even AI do with a turnip?
Granted, AI was supposed to change everything. But sometimes the sheer size of the wilderness of fakery is staggering. At any rate, her foray into the world of fake AI food made Lorenz appreciate “good, real food.”