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Save<\/p>\nCan you tell when food photos are AI-generated? Hospitality operators use AI more than you might think, but experts say it can be risky.<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Once you learn to recognise the telltale signs of AI slop, you\u2019ll notice the cost-cutting measure is used to market hundreds of restaurants and cafes across Australia. <\/p>\n Zoom in on a bakery\u2019s online menu, and you\u2019ll see those buttery layers of pastry are made up of tiny geometric lines; look closer at the sign in the restaurant window to notice how the texture of the beef noodle soup is uncannily smooth; and when scrolling through Instagram, ask yourself: Did Prince Harry and Meghan Markle actually visit that cafe in regional Victoria? <\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t want [food] to be perfect and shiny, but so much AI-generated content is focused on just removing every single flaw, every element of texture,\u201d says Sophie McComas-Williams, founder and director of Sydney-based hospitality marketing agency Buffet Digital. <\/p>\n \u201cYou want to be able to almost smell food through the content that you\u2019re creating.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the past two months, Good Food has encountered more than 100 examples of hospitality venues using AI to generate menus, websites and social media posts. It spans the dining sector, from big budget operations such as two-hatted Barangaroo restaurant a\u2019Mare<\/a> and Toorak fine diner Yakikami, to casual joints including Papi\u2019s Birria<\/a> in Sydney.<\/p>\n Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.<\/p>\n Sign up<\/a><\/p>\n The growing trend coincides with a nationwide uptick in AI users. Research firm Telsyte published this month that Australia\u2019s AI user base has grown by 6 million people since June 2025, with 14.3 million Australians using AI at least once a month.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were instantly intrigued by its potential,\u201d says Sydney restaurateur Nathan Sasi, who co-owns Sydney restaurants Vin-Cenzo\u2019s<\/a> (Darlinghurst) and Bar Copains<\/a> (Surry Hills) with business partner Morgan McGlone.<\/p>\n Like many hospitality operators, Sasi considers AI to be an efficient, cost-cutting marketing tool. With only two months to transform Darlinghurst restaurant Bar Vincent into Vin-Cenzo\u2019s, Sasi and McGlone turned to AI to generate a logo (a cartoon man carrying a comically large bottle of wine) and its cocktail packaging (a cartoon \u201cCousin Vinny\u201d).<\/p>\n Sasi says it saved him up to $10,000 and several weeks of branding consultations. At Papi\u2019s Birria,<\/a> owner-chef Lawrence Diaz used ChatGPT as an interim measure while a professional designer worked on menus and signage. If he had stuck with AI, he says he would have saved up to $3000.<\/p>\n \u201c[For] someone starting off, that\u2019s big money,\u201d Diaz says. \u201c[But] it doesn\u2019t compare to the quality of a good graphic designer.\u201d<\/p>\n At the Wagyu Ya Group in Melbourne, brand marketing manager Joy Lomasney estimates that every AI-generated promotional Instagram post saves the company about $200. She occasionally uses it to showcase specials at venues including Yamamoto Udon<\/a> in Melbourne\u2019s CBD and Yakikami.<\/p>\n Lomasney says she likes AI for the \u201cconvenience of being able to control in-house photography and messaging, with little English required\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018AI is so accessible, but not everyone has taste, and AI can\u2019t create taste and authenticity.\u2019<\/p>\n Salina Tam, owner of Ina\u2019s Bagels<\/p>\n But AI-generated marketing can be a double-edged sword, says Dr TaeWoo Kim, a marketing lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good opportunity for [restaurants] because they can create advertisements close to a professional level,\u201d he says. \u201c[But] it can also have a negative impact on the brand image.\u201d<\/p>\n Kim says AI marketing should be used carefully, as consumers can perceive it as inauthentic or low effort. In that case, he says, it would be better not to have any advertising at all.<\/p>\n More than 70 per cent of Australians are concerned about AI-generated advertising content and its potential to mislead consumers, according to a report published by independent market research firm Roy Morgan in May. <\/p>\n Their concern isn\u2019t entirely unfounded. When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Australia in April<\/a>, several Victorian cafes came under fire for AI-generating a royal visit, including Beachside Bakehouse in San Remo. <\/p>\n \u201cThe post was intended as a bit of lighthearted fun for our community,\u201d they said in a statement to news.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n In rare cases, it can be disastrous. In May, Sydney cafe Stoneground Bakery posted an AI-generated image of convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein pouring sauce over a breakfast dish at their Hunters Hill cafe. The post has since been removed, and Stoneground issued a public apology in a statement to Pedestrian.TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c[The post] was in bad taste and insensitive,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have had clients who\u2019ve gone off and created AI-generated campaigns, and they\u2019ve had huge backlash from their audience,\u201d says McComas-Williams of Buffet Digital. \u201cThey came back and realised, OK, we need to create human-first content to combat the backlash.\u201d<\/p>\n Salina Tam, owner of Ina\u2019s Bagels, walked back her AI use after posting an AI-generated image of latin pop singer Bad Bunny dining at her Marrickville cafe, causing confusion among her customers.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought everyone would be able to tell it wasn\u2019t real, but I realised I actually made it a little too realistic,\u201d Tam says. \u201cSome people were offended.\u201d<\/p>\n Tam, who has a background in marketing, has found more success documenting her daily life operating the cafe on Instagram, and leaning into her brand\u2019s unostentatious, hand-drawn aesthetic. <\/p>\n Some venues are trying to strike a balance. Former Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Cafe of the Year Happyfield<\/a> (Haberfield) has experimented with posting a handful of AI-generated images and videos to its Instagram. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine a world where Happyfield is posting 100 per cent AI videos,\u201d says co-owner Chris Theodosi. \u201cBut I\u2019m open to mixing in the odd AI video here and there, if it makes sense to the story and message we\u2019re trying to portray.\u201d <\/p>\n Happyfield\u2019s AI-generated video (one created as an experiment by an external contributor) attracted significantly fewer views on Instagram than those produced by a professional videographer, but he believes the technology will catch up.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you had two options of what to learn in 2026, and one option was how to film and edit videos, and the other was how to make videos with AI, I believe right now, you\u2019d be better off learning how to use AI,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n For now, Melbourne cafe owner Steven Chrun is sticking to human creators. He pays a social media agency an average of $300 per video to promote his Cheltenham cafe Sana Coffee<\/a>. Their behind-the-scenes footage has generated up to 3.5 million views on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s say I got 100,000 views on one video. I would be happy if even 1 per cent came through, that would be 1000 people,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n \u201cIn 2017 it was about food porn,\u201d says McComas-Williams. \u201cNow it\u2019s about the access and what you can see that you don\u2019t usually get to see as a customer.\u201d<\/p>\n At Ina\u2019s Bagels, Tam values \u201craw and real\u201d branding over AI-generated content. Her Instagram profile picture is a wonky pen drawing of a bagel. <\/p>\n \u201cAI is so accessible, but not everyone has taste, and AI can\u2019t create taste and authenticity,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Dr Kim says AI will eventually reach a point where the average quality is on par with what humans can produce. \u201cAnd then the question will be: what happens to human creativity and authenticity?\u201d<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ec1bed4c965d5bf1d45a123a78ee4883b7a4cf4e.jpeg\")
An image we created with Google Gemini.Google Gemini<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/30676d8bf3ac3ba94ea7de936cf38ab09fb74d36.jpeg\")
An image we created with ChatGPT. This style of composite image is becoming increasingly widespread on Instagram.ChatGPT<\/p>\n![\"Ina's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a19d067bc5218ff8942dbc935eb89ae5a21f17f8.jpeg\")
Ina’s Bagels owner Salina Tam outside her venue with posters she designed herself.Dion Georgopoulos<\/p>\n![\"Tam](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d31a2261397382880ecce8a2bd792af8154a0edd.jpeg\")
Tam incorporates her signature hand-drawn snail logo into menus and packaging. Dion Georgopoulos<\/p>\n![\"Steven](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b5341dad179e19823be28339a1212381c9c50cf1.jpeg\")
Steven Chrun, owner of Sana Coffee, posts vlog-style videos on his cafe’s Instagram account.Ruby Alexander<\/p>\n
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