Some say that no publicity is bad publicity, but for a new restaurant in Brisbane, Australia, a sign clearly generated by artificial intelligence has cooked up a storm of online criticism.
Users on Reddit were among those to roast the unidentified eatery's seeming lack of quality control, poking fun at the sign's jumbled lettering while decrying the loss of work for graphic designers and other trades now competing with AI platforms.
"Graphic designers rolling in their AI graves," wrote the original poster.
One user decried that "people with carefully honed talent" could be "superseded by slop like this."
"Seriously, this does not send a positive message," wrote one self-identified graphic designer.
Others connected a lack of oversight for the signage as a sign of low standards as a whole.
"If you don't have money for art I assume you're skimping elsewhere," said another poster. "Immediately pass!"
For better or worse, AI is already transforming the way people work. Much of this promises to make complex jobs easier or to break new ground. But at the same time, the buzz over the sign in Brisbane captured a kind of resentment over what some see as a lack of care facilitated by this new technology. Beyond the major social and economic disruption likely to be ushered in by the rise in AI, there are also pressing concerns about its growing energy consumption.
There's reason to be wary of the electricity needs, especially for making images such as the botched signage. Dr. Chris Mattmann, UCLA's chief AI officer, told The Cool Down that AI's increasing demand for energy for processing complex tasks could outpace current energy resources. Producing an AI image uses about as much energy as charging a cell phone, while generating a video is more like charging a phone 119 times, according to Blackstone.
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Never 👎 Using that kind of electricity for a subpar product is disappointing, but hopefully, soon, at least the energy cost of mediocrity will decrease. That'll be thanks to the help of new efficiency algorithms and cutting-edge developments such as microreactors, including some that use recycled nuclear fuel to generate power.
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Ultimately though, not even AI can generate enthusiasm — the would-be restaurateurs in Brisbane might want to take note and go with a more human touch.
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