Coffee shop owner harassed for ChatGPT menu poster exposes 'anti-AI mania' backlash

GabGarrett · x · 2026-09-16

Journalist Katie Notopoulos interviewed a Buffalo coffee shop owner who got hit with Instagram backlash—including DM threats from a locally popular account—after showing a fall menu poster she made with ChatGPT. The twist: the shop never hired artists for signage anyway; the owner had always made posters herself with Canva, and used AI simply to save time as a new mom. Reposting it, eddiekimx calls this a 'deeply stupid side effect of anti-AI mania,' arguing critics misunderstand the economics of small businesses using generative AI for their own projects.

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