It hangs proudly on the front of Manchester’s newest pub as a tribute to the mill workers who were once the backbone of the city’s success. But the sign that hangs outside the Spinners Rest has sparked controversy.
The new pub opens on Monday (June 29) at the former Shamrock, the traditional Irish boozer that had been serving pints for 210 years before closing. As the community surrounding it was being transformed beyond recognition, then-landlord Gerry Ellis lamented the loss of ‘the last traditional pub in Ancoats’.
Cheetham Hill-based brewery Joseph Holt has spent a reported £1.8 million on transforming the site, with the firm describing the new venue as ‘a traditional pub in the heart of modern Ancoats’. But one aspect which appears to have moved away from tradition has sparked fury among some punters.
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Back in February, Joseph Holt shared a preview of the artwork that would feature on the sign outside the Spinners Rest in an Instagram post. The caption read: “Introducing the artwork for our brand new pub sign, paying tribute to the mill workers who once lived and worked in the area. We can’t wait to see this up in a few months!”
The post sparked no outrage at the time. But in recent days, since the sign became fixed to the side of the pub and with its much-anticipated opening looming closer, social media users have slammed Joseph Holt for after it was suggested that artificial intelligence (AI) may have been used to produce the image which could become a part of Manchester for decades to come.
‘A shame to see’
“Terrible decision, using AI for your sign,” one Instagram user commented. “If you can spend all this money renovating the place then you can afford to pay someone to make real art for the sign. A shame to see.”
A second wrote: “Super excited for this place to open but it’s really disappointing to see what looks like AI being used for this! You’re in Ancoats surrounded by many insanely talented creative people who coulda brought this to life in a much more authentic way – using AI is absolutely not paying tribute to the history of the area. Do better.”
A third posted: “How can AI artwork possibly be a ‘tribute’ to anyone’s work?” A fourth added: “With all the talented artist in Manchester, you decide to cheap out and use AI for your signage? wtf.”
Joseph Holt says it is ‘proud’ of the artwork(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Meanwhile, a Facebook poster in the New Islington group claimed they had run the image ‘through several AI models and they all said it’s “highly likely” AI has been used’. They added: “If anyone knows the actual artist then I would genuinely love to be wrong because something about a traditionally working class image and branding being used without any ‘worker’ is really grim.”
Mark Norbury, operations director at Joseph Holt, told the M.E.N. the brewery is aware of the backlash – but that it is ‘quite proud’ of the image. He said: “We use a contractor for our signage. We’re speaking to them about it.
“I’m not an expert on AI or the technology, but it does look like a traditional pub sign to me and we’re quite proud of it. But I can understand some of the comments that have been made and we’re not ignoring them. We’re speaking to our contractor and they’ll come back to us about it.”
Asked if he could confirm whether the image was produced by AI or not, Mr Norbury said: “We’re going back to our contractors.”
‘I just think it’s weird’
Whether the sign has been produced by AI or not, its has sparked a debate over the way companies use AI, at a time the new technology is becoming increasingly commonplace. Lotte Evans, 28, works for the Think! design agency in Manchester, which proudly tells clients its work is about ‘real thinking by real people’.
“I definitely pushed it when I joined the company,” Lotte told the M.E.N. “I hate AI. You see it in emails, and I can tell when someone has sent me an email using it. You think ‘just use your brain’. But when it comes to art, I’m a designer, and that’s when it starts to get frustrating.”
Lotte’s biggest concern is when AI is used instead of a creative designer, who would have seen the task as a good opportunity – particularly in a city ‘full of artists and creatives’ like Manchester, which has its own School of Art. If the Spinners Rest sign has been produced using AI to depict a worker, Lotte says ‘the irony is insane’ and it will have ‘bypassed the sense of community’ on which pubs are founded on.
Lotte says pubs like the Spinners Rest should be rooted in a ‘sense of community'(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Six years into her graphic design career, Lotte says the way AI could impact that in future is one of her ‘number one worries’. She says she deleted the Linked In social media app from her phone because she became ‘anxious’ at seeing so many people in her industry post about ‘how amazing AI is’ – at the same time graduates are finding it harder to find ‘entry jobs that are being taken by AI’.
Lotte said: “I do try not to [worry about it], but I think – especially in my industry – I see a lot of jobs being advertised for ‘AI designers’ or ‘AI creatives’. It’s a specialist role within an AI workstream, which I just think is so weird.
“It scares me because I try not to interact with AI, I just think it’s weird. I’m a big advocate for working hard, putting effort in and process within design and creative. You don’t really get that with AI.”
Greg Whitehead, 44, has worked in graphic design since the age of 16. He admits he would ‘rather AI not be around’ and he can understand why the image has sparked a backlash.
“It’s what the image is which I think is why it has rubbed people up the wrong way – a worker,” said Greg. “Maybe they will have to change it if people start having a go.”
Greg Whitehead would ‘rather AI not be around’ – but doesn’t want to be on the ‘wrong side of history'(Image: submitted)
But while some people in the industry are staunchly anti-AI, Greg believes it can be used as a tool – but only with the input of a human creative. “Sometimes it might spit out something you have not thought about,” he said.
“You think ‘that’s quite interesting, it’s not quite right, but it’s given me food for thought’. I don’t want to be one of those people that shuns it like people shunned the photograph when that came out. You end up on the wrong side of history.
“I would rather it not be around. I have trained to do this. It’s all I have done since leaving school. I’ve learned a lot of skills. I would like to think I have a good eye for design. I think that’s going out the window a bit. People get results that are good enough for them, but it might rub up designers the wrong way.
“There’s a look to [AI], it just doesn’t look right yet, but in the next 10 years it will look completely real. I would like to think people will still approach designers because they want it to be human. I think there will be a backlash.”
‘If you put slop in, you get slop out’
Sarah, 30, works as a designer for a Manchester-based company who she asked not to be named. Like Greg, she admits it is hard to avoid AI, but it needs a human touch in order to get the outcome right.
“I do think that we can’t escape it. It’s happening. It’s going to get bigger, it’s going to get better. I don’t like the environmental impact, that’s the biggest thing for me, but in terms of new technology – you don’t really have a choice but to get on board with it.
“The problem for me is when people that are not educated in AI start using it as a short cut. If you put slop in, you get slop out. If you don’t know what you are doing in terms of the prompt, or checking for any elements of AI that are really obvious, what you will get is very clearly AI.”
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Sarah says that the leadership of the company she works for is calling for more AI use, while some clients are approaching her with AI already part of the brief – and if her company decided to shun the technology, rivals would be able to carry out work quicker by embracing it. But while AI isn’t able to be creative on its own, Sarah does not feel her job is ‘under threat’.
She added: “AI can’t create anything, it has to be given something to create. You’ve got to consider the work that has gone in from human artists to spit out that image.
As for the Spinners Rest image, Sarah can understand the frustration. “You don’t trust it,” she added. “It feels like they have bypassed the human part of it, especially somewhere like Manchester and with something to do with workers. I think people are right to be p***** off.”