The key facts
- Just Eat was testing AI-generated images for dishes without photos, but many images turned out absurd
- The company is removing erroneous images and has paused generation until the AI is improved
- Social media users mocked the errors; some criticised the very idea of AI food photos
What happened
Online food delivery platform Just Eat has apologised after a wave of mockery on social media caused by errors in AI-generated images of dishes from some restaurants. The company was testing the technology to display dishes that did not yet have photographs, but the result proved unpredictable.
Examples of errors
The AI misinterpreted dish names in context. Thus, the dish 'bacon and egg soda' (bacon and egg in a soda bread bap) from a Belfast café turned into a glass of fizzy drink with bacon and an egg floating in it. 'Chip muffin' (a chip barm, well known in Manchester) was depicted by the AI as a muffin with a potato baked into the dough. 'Cheese roll' became a sushi roll made of slices of cheese. Misspellings of names made things worse: the @uknewestfoods account on Instagram published an image of garlic bread shaped like an aeroplane — presumably due to a typo in the word 'plain', which resembles 'plane'.
Reaction and the company's actions
Users of the Just Eat UK subreddit have in recent days been actively posting the most ridiculous examples. A Just Eat spokesperson told the BBC that the company is 'in the process of removing' incorrect images and will stop creating new ones until the AI is improved. He noted that the company works with tens of thousands of small restaurants on food images, including funding professional local photographers, and that 'like any new technology, it doesn't always get it right the first time'. All AI images in the app are labelled accordingly, but the BBC found numerous unusual pictures remaining in menus.
Criticism of the idea
Some users on social media called the images 'funny'; one commenter joked that it had 'helped his diet'. Another Instagram user questioned the very concept: in his words, customers want to see what a dish actually looks like in order to decide what and from whom to order, while 'perfect' AI versions only lead to disappointment. The incident highlighted the difficulties companies face when using AI to speed up workflows, especially when interpreting words in a specific context.
A chip muffin and bacon and egg soda - menu items well known in parts of the UK, but not to the AI which made this
Salt and pepper chips usually involves frying chips with onions, garlic and chillies - a little bit more exciting than this suggests
What some parts of Manchester call a
A
