ha ha ha ha.

AI is a great amazing piece of tech. But like everything else, it is good at certain things and not at others. It is not magic. It needs to be checked before allowed to run things as it can do some really dumb things and there would be no one to blame. I can delete entire corporate databases unless there are guardrails.

Now we see a hilarious situation where two corporations are blaming each other in public.

Does anyone seriously think that AI will throw everyone out of a job and run the world?


REI gets roasted for a nonsensical Instagram ad featuring a bike with 2 sets of handlebars and blames a Meta AI tool
https://www.businessinsider.com/rei-backlash-ai-ad-instagram-blamed-meta-ai-tool-2026-6

Quote:

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Jun 24, 2026, 2:13 PM CT

A recent Instagram ad from outdoor retailer REI Co-op drew backlash after some users noticed that the bike in the image seemed to have a unique feature: two sets of handlebars.

"REI using AI slop now. So much for caring about the environment," read a Reddit post over the weekend about the ad that received hundreds of upvotes.

Turns out the image was the result of AI adjustments, with REI pointing to an AI tool from Meta, Instagram's parent company.

"Meta auto-enrolled us in an AI personalization tool that produced an inaccurate and inappropriate alteration of a vendor-provided image in some of our ads," an REI spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider. "While a two-handled bike might be interesting, it is not something you will find in our assortment."

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This thread is fake news. Here is the reddit thread.

https://www.reddit.com/r/REI/comments/1uaxojy/rei_using_ai_slop_now_so_much_for_caring_about/

A bunch of warm but mostly milquetoast REI comments.

OP:

Should have used Gemini. It's better at image manipulation.

Rex Racer said:

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Should have used Gemini. It's better at image manipulation.

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I used it for an age progression photo of my seven-year-old son to what it theorized he would look like at 18. Evidently 11 years changes your blue eyes to brown.

What's the drive chain doing crossing the frame?

Escher would be proud.

Take it to the AI board....its next to the Data Centers are destroying our water board.


They should take those 2 boards and label them troglodyte board.

TexasRebel said:

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What's the drive chain doing crossing the frame?

Escher would be proud.

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Blue star for you.

They should rename branch covidian board to the AI board. Might get some traffic.

BigRobSA said:

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Rex Racer said:

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Should have used Gemini. It's better at image manipulation.

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I used it for an age progression photo of my seven-year-old son to what it theorized he would look like at 18. Evidently 11 years changes your blue eyes to brown.

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I didn't say it was perfect. Just that it's better.

What's hilarious about AI too, is seeing all these posts on Instagram will AI models and there's all these Indians and other foreign dudes in the comments trying to pick her up. It's probably some middle aged fat dude on a computer in his mom's basement.

Rex Racer said:

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BigRobSA said:

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Rex Racer said:

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Should have used Gemini. It's better at image manipulation.

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I used it for an age progression photo of my seven-year-old son to what it theorized he would look like at 18. Evidently 11 years changes your blue eyes to brown.

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I didn't say it was perfect. Just that it's better.

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For a short period, Grok was awesome before they ramped up the indecent content controls. You could easily bypass the filter and change images to all kinds of stuff.

Quote:

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Does anyone seriously think that AI will throw everyone out of a job and run the world?

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Posts a strawman and asks if anyone believes it. SMH

Besides the handle bars AND the saddle bars.....how does that chain cross IN FRONT of the tire AND behind it........why does it have disc brakes AND rim brakes....can anyone actually READ the graphics on that bike ?

What a mess !

In addition to all the crap wrong with the bike, her right foot is floating. That was the first thing I noticed

Will REI recycle the image?

It's a marketing win for rei