Generative AI is used to create articles, tinder message Create all kinds of recipes and art. Some restaurant owners now use it to spit out pictures of dishes on their digital menus.
Nabeel Alamgir, CEO of restaurant tech startup Lunchbox, recently introduced a free service. AI-powered food photo generator With the help of OpenAI, the company behind the viral bot ChatGPT. Lunchbox, a restaurant management software company that works with nearly 200 brands, uses DALL-E, OpenAI’s text-to-image conversion tool. to build this tool.
Alamgir said Lunchbox pays OpenAI a “small fee” for each query. He said 175 million AI photos of him have been generated since its launch on Jan. 19. Lunchbox cannot track which restaurant or brand uses the tool.
Similar to ChatGPT, users describe what they are searching to generate content. In this case, it’s food photography. The insider asked us to create an image of a ‘blue cheese and bacon burger’ on a ‘brown’ background. Suggestions for style and background are optional.
This request proved to be a nuisance for bots.
I created four images containing a hamburger with a light blue bun to give it a moldy look. Another picture showed an artisanal burger with thick slices of blue-tinted cheese.
According to Alamgir, the purpose of the food photo generator is to help restaurants increase their sales. Citing data from Grubhub, he said restaurants that added photos to menu items had more than 70% more orders and 65% more sales than restaurants that didn’t.
“We launched this free generator to give small and new restaurants access to exactly the same tools that the larger platforms pay for,” said Alamgir. increase.
Even DoorDash is obsessed with good photos, according to food tech writer Kristen Hawley. First reported for lunchbox photo generator Tools of the month.
“Because menus are a major online touchpoint, an unappealing or unorganized menu can have a significant negative impact on a merchant’s online conversion rate, regardless of food quality.” The courier said in a 2020 blog post.
Requested image of blueberry pancakes with chocolate syrup on a yellow background.
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In today’s social media-obsessed world, a photo is not only worth 1000 words, it can be worth 100,000 views and likes. But how do diners react when the food they order is nothing like the one pictured?
Tools like food photo generators are new, but historically, customers tend to expect their food to look as advertised. Chain was also sued If the menu item is not ad-supported.
“We understand that maintaining menu integrity is important,” he said. “The reason we launched the Food His Image His Generator is because it allows us to get very close to the real visuals of simpler dishes, but many new and small restaurants can’t afford the marketing him. to run the components of
Alamgir said the tool aims to fill a gap for restaurants that don’t have access to professional food photography.
Julie Zucker, partner and chief marketing officer at Branded Hospitality Ventures, says that “appetizing” food photos can encourage guests to order.
A foodtech VC firm that also runs a string of restaurants in New York is investing in startups that solve restaurant problems. Branded Hospitality Ventures is not an investor in Lunchbox.
“There’s no question that photos sell, and there’s a ton of data to back that up,” says Zucker. “But operators didn’t open restaurants to be food photographers, so if there was an AI tool that accurately represented the actual food without misleading guests, it would definitely be a winner.” prize.”
Still, fake food photos may not work on DoorDash. The company says on its website: refuse Photos in the app if it “doesn’t represent the item properly”.
DoorDash told Insider: “Displaying high quality, accurate menu images is essential to maintaining customer trust and increasing sales through DoorDash.”
DoorDash said it offers free photo shoots if the restaurant doesn’t have pictures of the food.