AI Food Generator is an artificial intelligence tool that can create photos of dishes with a few keywords. — Photography Courtesy of Lunchbox/AFP Relaxnews
Everybody knows how important the visual appearance of food is to the whole tasting experience, which is why we have sayings like “your eyes are bigger than your stomach” or “feast your eyes on this”. While Instagram has become an essential communications channel for restaurants that like to post mouthwatering images of ‘food porn’, now there’s a specific AI tool that allows images of succulent dishes to be created based on just a few words.
Dripping with barbecue sauce and topped with caramelized onions, there's no doubt that you're already salivating at the thought of biting into this burger – whether made with meat or a vegetarian patty. The photographer is highly talented at convincing you to order it without even reading the description on the menu! Except that here, there was no human photographer or human food stylist: the stack of bun, patty, sauce, toppings and bun were actually composed by AI.
With the help of a few keywords, the AI Food Generator platform is indeed able to create a realistic photographic-like image that corresponds to the description. That's the promise of the American startup behind this new tool; called Lunchbox, the company specializes in setting up software solutions for restaurant professionals. Using the Dall-E 2 text-to-image generator from Open AI (currently making headlines for its ChatGPT conversational tool), the AI Food Generator was launched on Jan 19, and to date more than 175 million photos of dishes have already been created.
Copyright-free, these pictures generated by the artificial intelligence tool could help equalize the playing field for small restaurateurs who can't necessarily afford the services of a photographer to sell their menu on delivery platforms. This is one of the main arguments of the CEO of Lunchbox, who spoke to media outlet Business Insider. And it's understandable that eateries want enticing images given that visuals have never mattered so much in the food business, at a time when Instagram can make or break a restaurant's reputation. In fact, a 2019 survey found that 77% of American diners check a restaurant's website before they decide to dine in or order takeout from an establishment.
So imagine the face of the consumer who receives a takeout order that does not match up to the perfect photo seen on the site or delivery platform. Available to be tested free of charge, the AI Food Generator tool has its limits. It is better to enter basic keywords or ultra simple dishes to avoid being disappointed: ice cream, apple pie, French fries, etc. Some more complicated gastronomic dishes seem less compatible with the tool, such as the French seafood stew of bouillabaisse or certain Indian curries. – AFP Relaxnews
