Questions have been raised about the Dunedin City Council’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) after a computer-generated image was used to promote the city.
On Wednesday, Enterprise Dunedin posted an image to Facebook, advertising the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow-N-Fire which will be held at Forsyth Barr Stadium in September.
The AI generated image — a monster truck surrounded by historic Dunedin buildings — drew questions from some social media users.
"What in the AI sh.. f..kery?" one asked.
Another approved of the AI image, saying it used less ratepayers’ money.
"Everyone always asks for councils to cut costs where they can. Here is a perfect example of it in action."
Others disagreed: "It looks crap, is super unethical and bad for the environment.
"I'd rather they give a local artist gainful employment, even on a part-time basis, rather than post this eyesore."
University of Otago post-graduate business student Tevya Faed said the image’s flaws showed AI played a "significant" role in creating the image.
"The clocktower is duplicated. The Hot Wheels logo has some distortions and inconsistencies that a designer wouldn’t overlook.
"Additionally, the clocktower faces lack defined hands, and the architectural elements, such as the chapel building, show imperfections that are typical with AI-generated artwork.
Miss Faed, who also works as an illustrator at student magazine Critic Te Ārohi, was not a fan of the ad — there were plenty of ways its message could have been better communicated by a human artist, she said.
"Dunedin is full of artists and design students who can be used for illustrative projects like this one.
"This indicates that they would rather cut corners and costs."
She expected AI use to increase, but said it should always be declared, particularly by bigger companies who had the means to hire a designer or artist.
Dunedin destination manager Sian Sutton said a staff member generated the image with a "widely available AI tool" for a "quick piece of promotional fun on our social channels".
"A social media post is not something we would outsource to an agency or artist due to the costs involved and because some social media costs can have a very short shelf life. A more fulsome marketing campaign for the event would involve an entirely different approach."
Dunedin-based designer and photographer Paul Le Comte said he was not bothered about AI use for "quick and easy" social media posts, as the council likely could not make the graphic in-house.
"AI really is quite ugly. It doesn’t offend me," he said.
"At least they've got the bird's eyes more or less in the right place.
"If it came out that the [council] had spent $30,000 on a graphic for that, we'd all be outraged, so you can't win that one really, can you?"
Otago Business School senior lecturer Dr Mathew Parackal said the council’s reputation could be harmed if AI images were used frequently or in major communications.
"This may just be a one-off post. The marketing team would have noticed the comments, and I am sure they will not use it again," he said.
The ad’s true affect would be measured by how well it attracted people to the event.
"For me, the ad reflected the organisation's position in my mind, [the] brand equity, and it was leaning towards the negative side."
