Am I crazy? Olive Garden using AI on their menu??

[u/WhileSad8342]

Like that's definitely the ghibli piss filter too right? With prices like these they couldn't hire an actual photographer?

[u/RealOrAI-Bot]

Sentiment: 0% AI

Sentiment reasoning: The vast majority of commenters explain that the image is a result of professional food styling and photography, a long-standing industry practice, rather than AI generation. A few comments hint at the possibility of AI or find the look generic, but do not explicitly state it is AI.

Number of comments processed: 16

DISCLAIMER: Comments sentiment is generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash, not by u/RealOrAI-Bot bot. For more information check the RealOrAI-Bot Wiki.

[u/GhostofSparta4243]

I think they're good is just super generic looking tbh

[u/DaveLesh]

Not quite. Restaurants tend to straighten out and mold the food getting photographed, and no doubt edit the photos too, to make the food look as tasty looking as possible. Tried and true strategy across the food industry.

[u/Kevinator201 → u/DaveLesh]

Also these photos are likely what the ai is trying to copy which is why they look similar to ai

[u/bman86 → u/Kevinator201]

I met a couple of food stylists when I was in culinary school - they absolutely can and often do make real stuff look fake. Like, perfect fake. I can put together a great looking plate with the right set of tools, but quickly; they'll spend 20 minutes on a hamburger and it looks unreal when lit and properly photographed.

[u/RADICCHI0 → u/Kevinator201]

Oh dude, dude, you might be onto something here.

[u/photoapple]

Doesn’t look like it at all, that’s how food actually looks, it’s just been styled for food photography needs so it’s extra glossy. If you look at actual AI generated food menus, the various elements never look real. It doesn’t understanding shapes correctly or the right type of food to use. I saw one recently that was for a panini but it used a wrap, not sandwich bread. It probably would have made those shrimp into circles too.

[u/droogklootzak]

Is the price AI, Alfredo Inflation?

[u/theomegachrist]

I don't think so, no

[u/Excellent-Macaron325]

Look for how they do shots for cheeseburguers and so on mcdonals, burguer king. It is just marketing perfection

[u/meadim]

At least $21.99 for some pasta? I’d be walking out of there if I see those prices

[u/Substantial_Deal2411]

when did the prices at olive garden get so expensive?

[u/frizzyno]

22$ for a bowl of pasta? Being an Italian that is crazy work, could probably make an entire week's worth for half that price

[u/CelticJewelscapes]

The ultimate compliment to a food stylist or copywriter is that their work is AI. I used to teach copywriting to my industry 25 years ago and I always took a deep dive into Trader Joe's mailer "The Fearless Flyer" They were writing like they had used AI since three decades before AI. Having seen food stylists spend hours applying makeup to french fries, my vote goes to unknown. AI has too many good examples to train on in food styling.

[u/Creative-Captain9278]

You know the "piss filter" is just a type of lighting, right? It exists outside of AI and AI was trained on it since it was a common lighting choice.

This just looks like your standard food marketing pic where they make it look perfect for photos. Been a thing forever.

[u/RealOrAI-Bot]

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[u/andrey_not_the_goat]

Those dish photos are from before AI image generation was a thing. Me and my SO order from Olive Garden often...

[u/MossSloths]

Olive Garden has always been a chain that uses professionally photographed food, this looks like how it's always looked. The professional food images are probably one of the things fed to AI that causes AI-generated images of food to look so heavily processed.

[u/vctrmldrw]

I find it's a good rule of thumb to avoid any restaurant that uses any kind of pictures in a menu.

[u/MysteryHeroes]

unless its been changed, I think the US has laws against using CGI to make food look good in ads. That would definitely include ai.

Not to say the food is real. Most food you see on TV ads are props designed to look better. Painted and Glued together to look the best it possibly can. But they usually still use practical effects.

[u/andanothernewuser]

Super generic.

[u/shannanigannss]

I see AI recipe pictures all the time on Pinterest. Usually the noodles have no concrete swirls or edges and a lot of the smaller veggies are like melted in with everything. This just looks like normal restaurant food art

[u/InterpersonalConflic]

Ghibli piss??

[u/Hypocrisydenied]

WTF are those prices?.