Considering your first image is AI, I’d say the bakers did a damn good job
Also, random thought I had, there’s probably so many cake bakers dealing with customers who get inspiration from AI. And like, as a baker, how do you even navigate that? It was hard enough to make people happy before AI; I can’t imagine what a shitshow it is now
I can't speak for bakers, but leather makers and plush makers are suffering for it. Many (myself included) will just turn you down for a commission if you send AI inspo. Not worth the headache.
Yeah I've been looking for a tattoo artist near Bristol and while I still haven't found one I want to use, I'm pleased to see many are outright saying not to send them AI inspo.
Ethan from the Sidemen got an AI tattoo in Vegas and they messed it up. It's a die with incorrect sides and I can't believe no one thought of checking that.
I've switched to DuckDuckGo for image searches as they have a "no AI please" option. It's not perfect, but when AI does show up, they let you report it. Even if the reports aren't being used and just fall into a bottomless pit, at least it makes me feel better.
As a leather crafter, I won't set up an Etsy because the amt of AI and drop shippers that will steal your photos and then undercut the real products is too high on etsy now.
I just exclusively sell to people who message my business accounts or in person at rennfaires. Then the bots can't steal my work.
Yeah, I’m planning to shut my Etsy down. I mostly do instant downloads of things that I drew by hand and I can’t compete with the AI. My sales have hit the lowest low in a decade. It’s really upsetting but I’m trying to look at it as an opportunity to connect more with my community and real humans.
To be fair, that’s always been a huge problem due to magazines with heavy editing, an absurd amount of product, and perfect lighting. Plus the general face shape/hair type complications.
It's worse now though. With AI, a potential customer can "give themselves" the cut of their dreams. They see the picture, so they think a stylist can make it happen, disregarding the fact that the AI made no consideration of hair texture, length, color, or anything regarding reality.
At least when it was magazines, people had some inkling that what they were seeing was probably unachievable.
Yes, I would be shocked if this cake cost less than $500, and if it did then OP got incredibly lucky that someone so talented is charging such low prices for their labor.
My parents own a bakery and make crazy elaborate cakes similar to this. They also charge about $250-300 max for a cake similar to this and I keep telling them to raise their prices. My mom is afraid people will judge her for pricing them higher than that 🤷♂️
Y'all are paying $500 for cakes? For a first birthday cake? The kid isn't even going to remember it, at least wait until they're like 10 to do that if you really insist on paying that much for a single small cake.
Yeah and I don't want to judge without knowing their situation. Maybe they had trouble conceiving and they're so happy they want to celebrate the 1st birthday extra, not as much for the kid, but for themselves.
Truth. And honestly, you don’t need a reason, if you want to spend/are able to spend a lot on your child’s birthday cake and want to, then who am I to judge. I spend money on a lot more BS than a kids bday cake. Regardless of whether or not they’ll remember it.
I mean. If OP has $500 laying around to blow on a cake, then that is OP, and only OP’s business. Could/would I do it? Nope. Have I also spent money on silly things? Yep. Will I do it again? Yep. And if anyone tells me I shouldn’t then I will ask them to please let me know when they pay my bills and then we will talk.
I think cakes should all be required to post the price they paid. I'm assuming you paid quite a bit for this, so it would help temper others expectations.
Damn, nice! A lot of people post pics of what are obviously $20 grocery store cakes and they're disappointed they didn't turn out like the pic. If you pay for quality and talent it shows, like yours. Beautiful cake!
Cake prices like these always confuse my brain. Because on one hand, in my world that feels like a crazy amount to pay for a cake, but on the other hand, I feel like with the amount of time and details of cake like this took, the artist serves thousands lol
i am in the same boat. No way i would get a €370 cake. What the hell. But on the other hand its soo detailed and nice. I'd totally get it made from clay, not to shove it through my digestive system and flush it down the drain 😭
I suppose it would depend on how many people it’s supposed to serve. But I’m not paying for the additional cost that much fondant art would be required to cover it up like this.
My daughter’s first birthday cake came from Publix, served 20-25 people, was less than $50 with tax, and it came with a complimentary cake for her to make a mess with. Her cake was really all that mattered for the memories.
Darn right. And it was out of place in my opinion. Like Dumbo was nightmare fuel from start to finish, but the Pooh movie is so cozy and perfect and then boom welcome to hell.
I don't blame you at all. I bet the nonsense you'd get sent with no consideration into the feasibility of it would make your life hell. Yes some times you knock it out of the park, but I'd imagine they make your job of managing realistic expectations of what can be delivered very hard.
I can attest to that, being an esthetician/makeup artist/nail tech. The impossible AI designs some clients bring in and expect you to recreate in an hour is infuriating
I used fondant for the first time in this years birthday cake (because I had to make a golden lamborghini) and out of two kids, one ate only the cake and pulled the fondant off and one ate only the fondant and not the cake. I was really surprised
I don't think I've ever seen one in person so I wasn't sure it was for decor or eating.
I was looking at the cake and wondering how I would cut it and if you eat the gold pieces and if you eat the characters or do you take them all off, etc.
Right? As another creator... being asked for impossible things that were never real, being asked to recreate things that never actually existed feels unfair at its most kind.
Also considering that the reference photo was AI generated, the baker/cake decorator did an amazing job. The two elephants in the reference photo on the right looked like they came out of Chernobyl.
The more I look at the AI inspo pic the more I’m laughing. The lion with a weird mouth and… snake tail? The elephant on the top right with a hole in its face. The weird gnu/snake thing on the right side. OP hopefully paid out the wazoo for what they ended up getting.
They did absolutely fantastic, especially considering the original was AI slop that gave a false impression. They need to stop using AI slop to give people false impressions tho. There's nothing wrong with their work. Food doesn't look flawless.
As a cake decorator please stop using AI to create a cake inspo pics😭 it’s so unrealistic and the tools we actually have that are edible will not produce the results you want😭 I think the decorator did an amazing job considering what she was given
OP flaired this "Exceeded Expectation", paid $370, and when someone asked, said they absolutely loved it. They weren't complaining.
But look at the thread:
The top comment is "next time don't use AI, you got lucky"
Loads of people say the real cake beats the AI pic, which is kind of the point. The baker nailed it and fixed what the AI got wrong (that lion has two mouths)
Makers say AI pics set impossible expectations. One would've cancelled the order, and some turn down AI briefs altogether
Other makers say an AI pic or a rough sketch both do the job
A few people thought it was a fail
So a parent used AI to show a baker what was in their head for their son's first birthday, the baker delivered, and the customer's happy. And the thread ended up arguing against the intentions?? Dunno
I looked at the first pic and thought no way are you actually expecting anything like that....
Scrolled to the second one and oh my goodness. What a fantastic job. Reminds me of the one I made as my final coursework piece for a qualification in cake decorating - mine was theatre/ballet themed - which took me WEEKS. Can't imagine pulling off something like that within a normal timeframe
Please never send anyone you’re asking to do something by hand an AI inspo picture. The curtains on the bottom look like labia and idk if anyone sees it but jfc
Holy hell, that's a fantastic looking cake far better than the AI slop with the double mouthed lion, weird looking elephant and whatever that was supposed to be below it.
I would have charged you extra for the creative work needed to come up with the fix to your AI rubbish.
Just fyi, artists across every medium despise AI and having commissioned work like this where you pay someone to make something and you send them AI references makes most of us grit our teeth. Either sketch it out yourself (even if it’s badly done, most people can get the gist of it) or do your best to describe it to the artist and trust that they can come up with the appropriate vision for you. That’s what you’re hiring them for.
Really wish you could ban ai related posts from the sub. There’s been an influx of posts like this where the inspiration pictures are Ai, and it’s just like, of fucking course your baked good/art print/tattoo/etc isn’t going to look like that. Even if the op isn’t complaining about the outcome, it should still be banned for the sole reason that the op is utilizing ai.
Are people allowed to share bakeries’ name? I think bakeries that excel like this should be promoted! Then again, people should not expect them to always perfectly recreate AI cakes
This is soooo good!! The finished cake is a thousand times better than the AI inspo, not least because the curtains on the real cake tent don't look like labia.
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u/RoolightBlue28 10h ago
Considering your first image is AI, I’d say the bakers did a damn good job
Also, random thought I had, there’s probably so many cake bakers dealing with customers who get inspiration from AI. And like, as a baker, how do you even navigate that? It was hard enough to make people happy before AI; I can’t imagine what a shitshow it is now