Restaurants Are Using AI to Advertise Their Food and It's Making People Sick
wsj.comPaywalled.
However, as a related anecdote, a restaurant recently moved and retooled themselves in my city, and they initially used a very clearly AI generated menu. It generated a very clear backlash, to the point the owner had to make social media posts about how the real menu was still being worked on. A week later, lo and behold, they had a menu with their actual food on it. The rest of the design is still the same generic ai garbage, but at least they listened to their audience and got real photos of their food on there.
Yes, The Wall Street Journal is always paywalled.
This is a topic that's been making the rounds recently. Here are some other resources that may or may not be paywalled.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/the-unique... - "The Unique Horrors of A.I. Food Slop"
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/side-slop-bizarre-ai-... - "Side of slop? Bizarre AI food images jump from online to IRL menus"
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/06/ai-food-m... - "Uncanny and unappetizing: appetites spoil as AI images take over food menus"
https://theweek.com/culture-life/food-drink/the-nauseating-h... - "The ‘nauseating’ horror of AI food slop"
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/02/us/ai-food-slop-menus-viral-c... - "Appalling AI menu pictures keep going viral. But what makes them so revolting?"
https://www.wired.com/story/ugly-ai-food-photos-are-only-the... - "Ugly AI Food Photos Are Only the Beginning"