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A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment
Recently saw an AI photobooth. No one was using it, they were taking their own pictures instead.
Why the fuck would I pay you to stick a prompt in when I could do it myself if I really wanted an AI generated picture? You may have cut some of your costs, but now your final product has no value to it.
There's a shop near me that has one of those sandwich board signs on the sidewalk with some sort of "fuck the billionaires, support small businesses" messaging, but for some idiotic reason, it has the faces of those billionaires on it, so every time I see it, I just get angry.
Supporting a small business with an AI Poster is much better than supporting a big corporation
If they generate AI slop, they're supporting the big corporations.
Yeah so small business without AI slop is clearly better, it's just that small business with AI slop still supports big business less than you supporting big business directly.
I hate even more that I get there and they tell me "you know you can get it cheaper on Amazon" or "we no longer stock it but you can get it on Amazon". Bud, I can get every single thing in your store on Amazon and yes, it is often cheaper but I am trying to keep local stores and local jobs alive.
employees justifiably hate their employers
and small businesses typically abuse their employees far worse than mega corps which is saying something in a world of Walmarts and Amazon's
the sweet spot is a company that's small enough to maintain a culture and the owners still have a vision but big enough they have to follow the rules pay taxes and have an hr department
of course there is no ethical consumption or production under capitalism but I didn't create this world just suffering along with everyone else
Sweet spot is shops that require staff with some level of skills or knowledge which makes them a bit more difficult to replace.
Surely, these small business owners won't throw a fit when consumers choose Amazon over their shop. After all, it's cheaper and more convenient, right?
If I see AI posters, menus, or signage, I don’t spend money. Period.
It depends on the store. Small places run by one person, maybe I’d still go.
Big places, absolutely not. I saw an advertisement for a large law firm that was made with AI and that’s a big hell no from me.
Same here
Damn I'm missing that "ugly" stuff made in Paint and typed in Comic Sans more and more every day.
I did let a place I go semi regularly know that I choose not to eat dessert recently because their dessert menu had all AI images. The next time I was there the specials were just text (like their standard menu)
You are not alone. Its a surefire way of telling me they do not give a shit about their business. Its honestly nice that AI makes it easier to spot ;)
Unfortunately the percentage of average people who are bothered this is pretty low.
Most people just view it as a cost-saving measure, which small businesses tend to do.
Instant walkout. If they’ve already started a dialogue, I (respectfully) let them know why I’m not buying—otherwise I don’t bother. I’d literally rather see a shitty MS Paint drawing than an AI generated picture.
And their prices are 15-30% higher than any place else. And their customer service sucks. And the only employees are high school kids because they only pay minimum wage. And their hours are 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, Mon-Fri, so you have to take time off work just to go there.
At least that's how it is for me where I live. It's a wonder any of them are still in business. The saddest part is, most of them say shit like, "Well at least we don't have Bidenomics to worry about anymore. Things were way worse then."
I expect higher prices when I'm trying to shop local. I know they can't compete on price. I'm willing to pay the premium specifically to support small business.
Sure, restricted hours kind of suck, but like...I'm not going to hold wanting to find work/life balance against them.
Customer service is hit or miss anywhere. Really, I think the idea of customer service has mostly gone out the window everywhere. It sucks because HS kids (and anyone else working these jobs) aren't being taught these skills. With a small business, at least I can have a nice little conversation with the owner even if they're socially awkward. People skills are hard. Obviously there is a line in there somewhere that goes into shitty service or bad attitude.
I do plenty of shopping at chains, but it's important to me to throw money at small businesses. I've watched my city grow a lot in the last 30 years and the only thing keeping it interesting are the local businesses.
Went to a festival recently, and nearly all pictures of food were AI, but what got me were the artists with AI signs.
Yup, I genuinely refuse to support businesses actively using AI.
I recently saw a local store with "we have the best fruit" handwritten on a piece of paper. I don't think the alternative of AI poster is a poster designed by a local artist for them. It's AI poster or no poster at all. You may prefer no poster but I'm not bothered by AI in such cases.
It’s AI poster or no poster at all. You may prefer no poster
I'm also on team 'no poster'.
I'm far more likely to buy fruit from that place with a handwritten sign on a piece of paper than I am from someplace with a shitty AI slop picture of what a robot thinks fruit looks like. If you're going to have pictures of your product, it had better be actual pictures of the product I'm actually buying. I don't want to see some AI idealized picture of it -- I want to see what it actually looks like. And, no, you don't need to hire a local artist for that. You've got product to sell? You've got a phone in your pocket? Take a fucking photo of it. Put that photo on your poster. Done. No money spent on artists.
I have way more respect for chicken scratch drawn with a Sharpie on a piece of cardboard than AI “art.”
It would bother me too.
But not to the point of withdrawing my support, assuming their business has nothing to do with IT and AI otherwise.
Doing your posters with AI nowadays is the same as using ClipArt+ComicSans in days of yore.
OK, it's not exactly the same. So then I'd have explain it to them. "Forgive them for they know not what they do."
That said, I rarely support business just because it's local and small. There needs to be at least one more reason. I have seen too many local & small businesses & owners that exploit and pollute and corrupt just like their big counterparts.
They never built a clip art data center in my backyard.
Plus you still had to creative use the clip art. So there was human assembly there. Plus a human most definitely created the clip art in the first place.
So overall, not really the same
I live in a rural town and 100% this is true. Gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, they all use AI for everything.
I was really disappointed. Since I'm probably losing my job, I basically don't go anywhere any more, but went out for wife's birthday. The place we went started selling pizza and, from a distance, the small poster looked fine. I got closer and it was disgustingly unnatural (and also had "eastablished 1859" (I forget the exact date, but mid-19th-century) for the place that was like 6 years old). We decided to have dinner elsewhere.
