Bunnings, IKEA, Target, Kmart, Big W: ‘AI slop’ displaying on Google reviews for stores across the country
Artificial intelligence is slowly infiltrating every aspect of life and now even humble Google searches have fallen victim to the “AI craze”.
A user shared a post on the Australian subreddit highlighting the flood of AI-generated images that pop up when you search for Bunnings stores on Google.
“This has been happening frequently in the last few days and is becoming more and more noticeable,” the user said.
“When you Google your local Bunnings store, chances are the first image displayed in the store you searched for is now nothing more than a product of AI.”
The user added images showing various AI-generated storefronts of some of Australia’s best-loved stores.
Bunnings appears to be the most common victim; When you search almost every store in the country, an image generated by artificial intelligence comes up, but images of Big W, Kmart, Target, Coles, Office Works and IKEA are also in the mix.
Even Perth’s own Fremantle Market has had its photo replaced with a spooky AI replica.
Behind the strange pile of photos appears his Google profile ‘professional local guide’, claiming to be “a passionate Google Maps Local Guide dedicated to helping people discover the best spots in every corner of the world”.
“Don’t take this seriously hahaha, I’m just bored,” they add in their bio.
At the time of writing, the user has left 426 reviews for various stores; all of which were given a five-star review and were accompanied by a strange AI-generated image.
Commenters on the original reddit post immediately mentioned Google’s report feature, but despite multiple reports, the images appear to remain.
“This has been going on for a few days so I reported it but it doesn’t seem to be working,” one user wrote.
The original poster responded to this comment with: “And it won’t happen that way.
“Google isn’t listening (no matter how many times we report this), so we’re going to make some noise on Reddit and get the message out.
“Hopefully this post (and a few more on Reddit) keeps popping up so maybe Australia wakes up and sees this… (and begs Google to implement a rule banning AI material on Google Maps).”
Nightly has reached out to Google for comment.
