A coffee shop owner used AI for a menu poster—then came the angry DMs and a threat
A coffee shop owner used AI to make a menu poster. Then came the angry DMs
Megi Endeladze, owner of Penny's Coffee Shop in Buffalo, New York, used ChatGPT to create a menu poster when her artistically gifted barista moved away and she had a newborn. After posting the poster on Instagram, she faced a wave of negative comments calling it 'AI Slop,' lost about 100 followers, and received a threatening DM from a larger account demanding she take it down. She apologized and pledged not to use AI for menu artwork again, while asking for kindness.
At 4 a.m., I was holding my pump on my lap and replying to this person, 'I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it that way. I was so into typing this message that I produced so much milk, it was dripping down my legs because I overflowed the pump.