The sameness problem behind those unappetizing AI-generated menus
techcrunch ·
AI-generated restaurant menus often look subtly wrong to viewers due to models trained on a narrow, homogenized aesthetic that produces an eerie, overly perfect look. Experts attribute this to convergence, a milder form of model collapse, where AI outputs become increasingly similar and bland when trained on prior AI-generated content. The article notes that repeatedly editing an AI-generated menu image, such as changing prices or names, makes the food look progressively smoother and rounder, prompting discomfort. Researchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen found an 'uncanny valley' effect where nearly realistic AI food images cause more disgust than obviously fake ones, and this aversion is amplified by cultural concerns about AI. Experts also warn that AI's homogenizing influence, which optimizes for 'pleasingness,' erodes the reliability of images and video as gold-standard evidence in contexts like courts, since the world has fundamentally shifted in how seeing and hearing are trusted.
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