Queen’s Pub’s AI post stirs more than appetite.
A Queen’s Pub promotional post, now deleted, was shared during Convocation Week and titled “Your Parents Are in Town,” which included two AI-generated images of menu items, steak and salmon, that hadn’t yet been made by the chefs. In an interview with The Journal, Vice-President (Operations), Elena Nurzynski confirmed the use of generative AI, citing logistical reasons.
“Since these were menu items that didn’t exist on our regular menu, there were no existing photos of them. In situations like these, you have to consider factors involving minimizing food waste, cost-efficiency, and delivery times of the products we are looking to promote from our suppliers,” Nurzynski said.
“We also wanted to have adequate time to market these products, so students were aware of the specialties available to them. Considering these factors, AI was used to provide the images.”
But the situation escalated after the pub posted an Instagram story claiming, “Photos are 100 per cent real and not AI-generated,” a statement later walked back following an inquiry from The Journal.
“[The] Post’s intention was meant to poke fun at ourselves and provide humour over the situation as a way to humanize the staff behind the service. Our student staff are new to their roles, and these are situations that can be tricky to navigate,” Nurzynski said.
She also clarified that communication decisions typically involve consultation between service managers and permanent staff, with final oversight varying by service, but ultimately falls under the responsibility of the executive.
Nurzynski, who ran on the platform of transparency this past winter, was quick to reaffirm that its top priority, though acknowledged the organization is still learning how to navigate AI usage.
“When it comes to our services, they reinforce our mandate of providing experiential, out-of-classroom opportunities to develop skills and learn. I want to emphasize that, given how new AI is, we’re all still learning how to navigate its use. This has been a great learning opportunity for everyone involved, and will ultimately help our staff and organization evolve,” Nurzynski said.
But for some students, that misstep raised larger questions about trust, transparency, and student representation. Kaan Sumer, CompSci ’26 and former AMS Social Issues Commissioner (External), criticized the use of AI, knowing that this can be a chance to get more students to do the graphs for them.
Beyond providing opportunity to the student body, Sumer saw the use of AI as a disrespect towards the chefs working and making the dishes at the pub.
“I was really disappointed to see the AMS use AI art like that when we already know that they already hire graphic designers to make posts. They already have professional photographers working in the media center. And this is kind of like a later thing that came into my mind as well, it’s also disrespectful to the chef who presumably would be making these dishes,” Sumer said in an interview with The Journal.
Although there’s no formal AMS policy on AI use in services, commissions, and offices, Nurzynski confirmed that discussions are underway and student feedback is being considered.
Tags
AI, AMS, AMS Instagram, First Year in Focus, The Queen's Pub
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