A popular smoked chicken chain and an artisan bagel shop found out the hard way that Austinites aren’t fans of AI-generated art. Days after posting AI memes and menu specials — and after receiving “feedback” and “nasty DMs” — two Austin businesses shared lengthy apologies to their hometown audiences.
El Pollo Rico and David Doughies Bagelry posted separate statements on Instagram last week about their former use of AI and why they decided to stop using it for social media content. Both businesses shared similar intentions that these posts were meant to be fun and harmless, but ended up turning into a bigger conversation.
While the bagel shop described getting hateful and threatening messages after using AI for an Austin City Limits post ahead of the festival, the Austin-based Mexican restaurant chain explained the feedback they received from customers about their multiple AI-generated promotional images made the company change their mind…