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Why AI food looks like that

L2 · PractitionerOpinion & AnalysisThe Verge AI$· 9/4/2026

Explains common AI image generation failures that practitioners encounter when creating food content.

AI Summary

AI image generators struggle with food photography due to diffusion models' weaknesses with thin structures and texture details.

Excerpt

There is a torrent of unappetizing slop coming from restaurants, cafes, and brands that are increasingly turning to AI to generate images promoting their food. The resulting horror show includes donut shrimp, Reubens from the deep, wormlike noodles, and noodle-like pastries and stringy chicken. There's also construction material masquerading as ice cream, ice cream masquerading as brains, and other masonry-adjacent cuisine. I don't even know how to begin describing this monstrous attempt of a bu

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