AI food images look tastier than the real thing, study shows

Some phones have a setting for photographing food, and yet it's often tricky to make it look realistic, let alone appetising. AI appears to be much better at this. — Photo: Robert Günther/dpa

LONDON: People perceive food depictions in AI-generated images as tastier than real food in photographs, according to scientists at the University of Oxford, who fear this budding technology could one day be used to sell unhealthy food.

"Consumers generally prefer AI-generated images of food over real food images," the university announced, explaining that AI is good at "leveraging" of "key features" of food, such as symmetry, shape, glossiness, lighting and colour.

In other words, AI jazzed-up the snacks and meals to look more enticing than they typically do in real life - work that was so compelling it took in people unaware they were looking at a fake image.

The study involved 297 participants who were asked to rate real or AI-generated food images, including natural and processed food, on a scale from "not at all appetising" to "extremely appetising." The findings were published in the journal Food Quality and Preference.

The researchers noticed that AI-generated images "often [position] the food so that it doesn't directly point at the viewer" - a piece of marketing that they believe could be a factor in making people perceive the item presented as more attractive.

The AI-generated images gave the impression of food that is "more energy-dense" and "idealised" than the real thing, an illusion that raises concerns about "induced eating of unhealthy foods," the researchers said.

Oxford professor Charles Spence warned that such images could "potentially influence unhealthy eating behaviors" or "foster unrealistic expectations about food among consumers." – dpa