Cycling is all about getting outside, zooming through beautiful vistas, and just generally being in touch with reality. So it was a bizarre choice for outdoor retailer REI to use a ridiculous AI image on Instagram this past week.
Road.cc reports that REI shared an ad for the new Van Rysel EDR AF bike. But instead of using a real photo taken by a human photographer, it shared an AI-generated picture that made no sense whatsoever.
The image of the bike shows drop handlebars coming out of the back of the seat, an extremely strange place to put them. The AI bicycle also has disc brakes and rim brakes — extra stopping power.
“Where can I get a seat like that? Too many bike seats don’t have brake levers on them,” jokes @ameenbel on Threads.
“The good news is that bicycles continue to completely defeat AI,” adds thefoxtooth on Threads. “I have never seen AI make a believable bicycle.”
“There’s using AI slop and then there’s not even looking at the slop before posting it,” writes u/DoILookUnsureToYou over on Reddit. “The more you look, the worse it gets,” adds u/anowlenthusiast.
Others pointed out that the character looks like it has a man’s body with a woman’s head. “Y’all, who is not checking these things before they go out?” says u/wannabe_biceguy. “Not a single human put eyes on this image before sending it out or posting it or whatever.”
REI left the post up for a while, but it has since been deleted. However, customers aren’t letting REI live it down, with even new posts being bombarded with messages about the AI picture. Some commenters referenced REI’s slogan.
“REI, please do better. You are the co-op that told us to ‘Opt Outside.’ Your members do not need AI-generated images to sell us more stuff,” says Jon Sorensen on REI’s latest post. “AI slop is a brand killer,” adds @Iaineeheart.
It’s yet another example of a company shooting itself in the foot by using terrible AI. Even though the whiff of AI hangs on many advertisements nowadays, when there are obvious mistakes, it can seriously backfire.
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