Thread

1. HanShotFirst · 1789588770 · focus · HN ↗

   I've noticed a very sudden uptick in these AI designed signs and menus in my area. I fully understand why they are used by small business owners (fast and cheap), and I think getting angry at or threatening a business owner for using them is a huge overreaction.

   That said, my own aesthetic sense is very much turned off by them. It is hard for me to articulate why, but I can name four reasons:

   - The food never actually looks good, real, or delicious;

   - The information is presented in a haphazard way, with text randomly thrown all over the place;

   - There is really only one kind of "style" of these signs that I've seen, and it's sad to think that this style (or lack thereof) may become ubiquitous;

   - In a world where AI feels increasingly shoved down our throats, it is unnerving to so suddenly see its rise manifested in the physical world.

   1. vidarh · 1789595210 · focus · HN ↗

      There are multiple widely replicated common crappy menu styles already. If anything AI generated menus are likely to lift the quality floor.

      I recall in particular when I first moved to London and realised you could identify low quality Italian restaurants by whether they had the same laminated plastic dessert menu from some distributor of ready made desserts... The step up was when they'd cut and pasted parts of that menu design into their own template...

      And keep in mind we notice the bad examples, because they stand out. They'll fade out of public consciousness as people get better at getting better output out of them, but they're not likely to disappear - menus have clearly been a low priority for a certain subset of places pretty much forever.

      If anything, it reliably signals "cheap".

      1. phil21 · 1789599820 · focus · HN ↗

         I think there is a big difference between using AI generated food pictures, vs. taking real pictures of your food and using AI to create a menu/poster.

         The former is both weird, creepy most of the time, and false advertising. The latter is as you say - the state of the current status quo. I can tell that it's AI, but honestly it's just replacing low-effort human crud for low-effort AI crud. Doesn't bother me at all, it's actually a great use for the technology imo.

         1. quietsegfault · 1789601273 · focus · HN ↗

            What about the pictures of Chinese food above the counter vs. the actual food you get? There has ALWAYS been a big difference between advertisements and menus and what the food really looks like.

            1. sillyfluke · 1789675055 · focus · HN ↗

               My usual Chinese spots have pretty terrible food pictures, seemingly taken as an afterthought with no effort given to make the food look more appetizing at all. So kind of the opposite of false advertising.

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