Kelowna's Weirdest Dining Experience

Recently, I experienced one of the strangest dining experiences I’ve ever had. An A.I.-inspired dinner came to my attention, so I decided to book it, wanting something unique to do and curious about food and how it co-mingles with A.I. I discovered the event at what I thought was the perfect time as I took a week to explore every AI image I saw, not just on delivery services like DoorDash but also took a chance on the A.I.-inspired dinner hosted at a local restaurant I frequent during the summer. These were my findings…

DoorDash – Fees and A.I. Imagery

DoorDash is well established in my city, the delivery service is the most popular choice over the Canadian Skip The Dishes and the event lesser used Uber Eats. When I say lesser user, I mean restaurants just don’t have as much of a presence on the latter two. But while perusing DoorDash to order lunch for my workplace, I noticed a few restaurants here and there using obvious A.I. generated imagery to promote their food. It made me question if in using A.I. imagery, are these restaurants completely ignoring the initial trust customers have in the restaurant-dinner relationship?

I decided to dive in and order each A.I. generated dish I found while also comparing delivery fees versus pick up fees versus just ordering by phone call at the restaurant directly. Of course, the DoorDash delivery fees were highest and nearly 50% more than if I were to order at the restaurant. The DoorDash pick up option wasn’t much better at 40% higher than dine in or takeaway by ordering directly with the restaurants. DoorDash charges incredibly high fees and in turn the restaurants have to cover their cost while also making a buck so these fees get passed on to us, the customer. The cost of convenience is high. If you want to read all about my experience with DoorDash AI images then see this article.

A.I. Inspired Dinner

An A.I. Inspired dinner had been promoted since New Years’ Eve in my city at a local restaurant. The restaurant called The Perch, understandably, struggles with off-season as it is known for its rooftop scenery and outdoor patio space primarily. Ask most locals and you’ll find mixed reviews on the food but the cocktails overall have been consistently good. Since last summer I noticed a huge shift in their social media marketing and branding. Everything is now AI created and has been a real detriment to its overall reach. Fewer likes. Fewer engagements. Lack of an understanding of what humans like. At first the AI images on their socials show cartoonish people sitting at a restaurant. It is completely devoid of the restaurants best attributes, namely the views and cocktails. Why does this matter? I’m getting there.

Cut to the end of January, when I bought $100 tickets to an AI-Inspired Dinner hosted at the rooftop restaurant. I arrived unsure of what to expect but only that the dinner would in fact be AI-inspired. The menu, the chef, the evening would have had some kind of playful conversation with artificial intelligence for better or worse. Unfortunately, I arrived at what I can only describe as a seminar. The host, a local who has a couple of minutes on the radio each Tuesday talking about tech, has a stack of papers – his script. As he reads through his script, food is served. I started to film my food, hoping to cover this unique event. The host turned to me and said, “Now, you’ll want to film this!” as he challenged our group to prompt AI to generate a short video of a man walking across a tightrope with his hands in his pockets, noticing a banana peel up ahead. Any person who came close to creating this video wins a consultation with him as an AI marketing expert. The very same expert who has been running the sad social media campaign for the very restaurant we were sitting in.

The intent of the evening became very clear. I was duped into buying tickets for an AI-inspired dinner only to be sold to. I was a potential customer for this man’s AI marketing business.

The problem with AI marketing is it just doesn't connect

While we were forced to listen to this man speak he began to call out existing customers at various tables. Note, there were only 12 of us in a fairly small dining room. It being January in Canada, the patio – this restaurant’s ~~best~~ only asset – wasn’t ideal.
He pointed to a woman who had a business offering psychic or medium services to people. The host had been developing videos for her using an AI-generated voice and likeness to connect with an audience that relies mostly on human vibes.

There was also a woman selling lingerie, and she couldn’t afford models as a new business owner, so he helped her turn to AI to develop images. His preferred platform was Grok, an AI platform developed by Elon Musk’s company, which allowed for more, as he called it, “spicy” images to be created. When I mentioned that this was the very reason Canada was considering banning Grok due to users creating child and revenge p•rn, he dismissed me. “No, if they tell me they are making changes to the platform, then that’s good enough for me.” Unfortunately, it isn’t good enough for parents. It isn’t good enough for women. This is where I drew the line. He was too far gone. Dove in too deep within the murkiness of AI and I questioned the ethics behind the very AI-Inspired dinner I (unfortunately) paid for.

The waitress who kindly brought our food came to our table to clear the half-empty plates away. The host had taken a quick beat in the booth at the back corner of the room. He moistened his throat after 2 hours of talking with 1 hour left to go. He eyed the room. I quietly asked the waitress what her thoughts on all this were.

“I’m scared of being cancelled if I use AI,” she laughed. “My kids told me if I get caught writing an email with AI, I can get cancelled.” I was confused at her fear of being cancelled as a waitress. Was her boss and colleagues against AI so much so that she could lose her job?

I pressed on, “Is any of this evening, the food, the drinks, inspired by AI? Did ChatGPT help to create any menu items or drinks?”
“Absolutely not!” I was assured. But when I asked the same question to the host, he said: “MattGPT inspired.” This was a pun on his name. By this point I was exhausted. I felt like I was in a class lecture. I needed another cocktail but didn’t want to give them any more of my money.

I wasn’t going to write about my experience, but I decided to do so purely because the host is offering another AI-inspired dinner. I felt it my duty to warn you so that you could use your hard earned money somewhere else. May I suggest Wildling?