October 23, 2026, 5:25 pm | Read time: 2 minutes

Pizza, burgers, or pasta look particularly appetizing in the ordering app. But the pictured dish doesn’t necessarily come from the kitchen of the selected restaurant. Lieferando features AI-generated images that, according to Watson, sometimes only provide a generic representation of the offered food. It’s impossible to tell what the actual dish looks like from such an image.

It’s particularly concerning that these artificial images don’t always originate from the restaurateurs themselves. Watson points to a snack bar owner who shared on Reddit that he hadn’t uploaded any photos himself. According to him, the delivery service automatically generated AI images. To replace them, he would have to upload his own photos.

Breakfast Suddenly Turns Into Lemonade

The British Lieferando sister company Just Eat shows how thoroughly the technology can miss the mark. There, faulty AI images caused a stir. Particularly curious was a “Soda-Bread-Breakfast.” It was supposed to be a dish with soda bread, but according to media reports, the AI turned it into a kind of lemonade with bacon and eggs (Slide 5).

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Just Eat apologized for the inaccurate depictions and removed them. However, the delivery service is not abandoning the use of the technology. The AI tool is set to be further developed. This leaves the fundamental question of what benefit food images have if they don’t reliably represent the offered dish.

Real Images Are More Appealing

Additionally, AI-generated food doesn’t automatically appeal to viewers. A study published in 2024 found that participants rated AI images of food as less realistic and less appetizing. In a 2024 study, images also performed better when participants knew they were authentic.

Also interesting: Pink Panther at the Protest? These Images Are AI Fakes

Meanwhile, Lieferando is increasingly relying on artificial intelligence. The company cites AI-supported recommendations, delivery time and demand forecasts, and a voice assistant. However, the menu images reveal a particular weakness of the technology: A perfect fantasy dish is of little help when customers really want to know what the restaurant actually serves.