GREEN BAY (NBC26) — A Green Bay restaurant is responding to social media criticism for using artificial intelligence in its promotional campaigns.
- This comes two months after Green Bay's new public market also took heat for using AI to create its mascot logos.
- The restaurant's manager says it uses AI for many of its social media posts, utilizing a paid Discord subscription for photos, and Chat GPT (which is free) for captions.
- The manager contends that small businesses may not have the staff or budget for photographers or artists to contribute to social media presence.
- Facebook does not mark photos as AI-generated unless the business chooses to activate that function.
- Video shows how the manager made a viral AI photo, the criticism from patrons, and the perspective of an expert.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
You may have seen a photo on social media of a family decked out in Packers gear, enjoying their meal at a local burger joint. Looks like they're having a great time, right? The only issue with this photo, even though it looks like the same brick wall that's behind us, is that it's not real — but AI-generated.
"I just asked for a family in Packer clothes, eating hamburgers in front of a brick wall, because we have a brick wall," Alix Stiles said. "And I thought it turned out pretty good."
But some on social media said the restaurant should be more transparent — or take real photos.
Stiles, the restaurant's manager, says artificial intelligence — or AI — is the future.
"It does just shock me that people could be so just outwardly upset about it like that," Stiles said "That kind of shocked me, just because it's everywhere."
This comes after Green Bay's new Public Market also caught backlash for claiming mascot photos were not AI-generated, even though they were. (The Market later admitted.)
Stiles says small businesses can't afford photographers or artists.
"You're working all day, every day, doing what you can to get by," Stiles said. "Who even gets a photographer? Unless you're, like, a corporate business, or you're a really financially well-off business, or a bank or some sort of insurance company, where you've really got to show a good image to the public."
So the restaurant uses Discord and Chat GPT to make the social media posts.
"If I was or was not busy, I would still use AI marketing, without question," Stiles said.
But a digital marketing expert disagrees, saying the strategy could actually hurt a business.
"You should not publish AI-produced material," said Kathy Fredrickson, an assistant professor of marketing and advertising at UW Oshkosh. "You will be penalized by the social media, and by Google because they want original content. So it defeats the purpose of building your brand with original content when you publish AI-driven content."
Fredrickson says it should be a tool, but not the final product.
But Stiles is all-in on AI, and continuing to learn about how it can spice up the marketing campaign.
"It's beneficial," Stiles said. "It saves you time. We live in a very fast-paced society, and all we want to do is figure out to have a little more quality time in our lives."
Stiles says Bay Area Burger Co. will not shy away from its use of artificial intelligence on social media in the future, in hopes that more of the posts are smash hits.
