After receiving multiple customer complaints about artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images of food and dishes on Zomato, CEO Deepinder Goyal announced on Sunday that the platform will remove these images. The AI-generated visuals were initially intended to enhance the presentation and appeal of dishes on the food delivery app. However, Goyal stated on social media platform X.com that he had “received numerous complaints about these misleading images.”
He explained that these AI-generated images not only “lead to a breach of trust between customers and restaurants” but also result in “increased refunds and lower customer ratings.” Goyal emphasized that while Zomato uses various forms of AI to improve workflow efficiency, “one place where we strongly discourage the use of AI is in images for dishes in restaurant menus.”
Goyal urged restaurant partners to stop using AI-generated images in their menus, announcing that Zomato “will actively start removing such images from menus by the end of this month.” Last year, Zomato introduced PicNic AI (Picture Nicely AI), a tool designed to improve the visual presentation of food images on its platform, to help restaurant partners easily upgrade their basic food images.
He further noted that Zomato will “stop accepting AI-generated dish images (as much as we can detect them using automation).” Goyal also encouraged both restaurant owners and the in-house marketing team to refrain from using AI-generated images for marketing purposes. Instead, he urged restaurant partners to invest in real food photography through Zomato at no additional cost. “Restaurant owners – if you haven’t yet invested in real food shots for your menu, please reach out to our catalog support team to schedule a photoshoot,” Goyal said, adding that “Zomato doesn’t make any money as part of this process.”
That is a good step, what do you say?
