This all reminds me of Baudrillard, talking about the difference between Simulation and Representation.
AI slop does not attempt to represent the food you will receive. It is a pure Simulation. It’s verisimilitude is irrelevant. Much like the AI Minecraft McFlurry - the fact that the ice cream bears no relation to the picture is almost the point - we are meant to care about the concepts and the conflation of them. But only at a surface level. The picture is to the McFlurry what the McFlurry is to “real” food.
I read and share this seasonal article about Baudrillard and Pumpkin Spice annually as we plough through the information crisis that is the enshittoscene
An incredible essay-- thank you!!! Also the DeepAI cheeseburger image is really selling the idea of just eating an extra piece of cheese on top of your cheeseburger. Think the algo is on to something.
Regarding the topic of the article, Georgina, thank you for this insightful piece. You truly nail how AI-generated visuals are now blurring the lines in our everyday food experiences. From a computational perspective, understanding this blending of digital and physical is critial for navigating our future relatinship with AI.
The more I read about the big food industry, the more I scorn it. Give me honest reality, local, small - often mediocre and yes, sometimes honestly disgusting, but once in a while - amazing. Who wants manufactured - in food or its representation?
I think you missed a trick by not including the cinematic debut of the real next step in AI food, the ‘man-made chickens’ in David Lynch’s 1977 film “Eraserhead”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JamnCWXNsPs
This all reminds me of Baudrillard, talking about the difference between Simulation and Representation.
AI slop does not attempt to represent the food you will receive. It is a pure Simulation. It’s verisimilitude is irrelevant. Much like the AI Minecraft McFlurry - the fact that the ice cream bears no relation to the picture is almost the point - we are meant to care about the concepts and the conflation of them. But only at a surface level. The picture is to the McFlurry what the McFlurry is to “real” food.
I read and share this seasonal article about Baudrillard and Pumpkin Spice annually as we plough through the information crisis that is the enshittoscene
http://www.critical-theory.com/understanding-jean-baudrillard-with-pumpkin-spice-lattes/
It’s relevant here.
An incredible essay-- thank you!!! Also the DeepAI cheeseburger image is really selling the idea of just eating an extra piece of cheese on top of your cheeseburger. Think the algo is on to something.
Regarding the topic of the article, Georgina, thank you for this insightful piece. You truly nail how AI-generated visuals are now blurring the lines in our everyday food experiences. From a computational perspective, understanding this blending of digital and physical is critial for navigating our future relatinship with AI.
The more I read about the big food industry, the more I scorn it. Give me honest reality, local, small - often mediocre and yes, sometimes honestly disgusting, but once in a while - amazing. Who wants manufactured - in food or its representation?
I think you missed a trick by not including the cinematic debut of the real next step in AI food, the ‘man-made chickens’ in David Lynch’s 1977 film “Eraserhead”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JamnCWXNsPs