## 4 Results
### Analysis of AI-Generated Image Attractiveness Compared to Photographs
As anticipated, respondents over 65 years of age demonstrated the least inclination toward AI-generated images; however, even within this group, 43.33% preferred AI-generated visuals, illustrating a general openness to such technologies. These demographic trends were supported by statistical analysis. Statistically significant gender differences were observed in the youngest age groups (under 25 and 25-44) for several products and both image types, with \(p\)-values below 0.05. However, the effect sizes (Cramer's V ranging from 0.13 to 0.21) indicate that while the differences are statistically significant, they are modest in practical terms. No significant gender differences were found among participants aged 45-64 or 65+, suggesting that the visual preferences of older respondents were not influenced by gender. Across all age groups, genders, and products, an average of 59.19% of participants selected AI-generated images as their preference. This result confirms that, from the standpoint of general preference, AI-generated images are visually comparable to photographs of real products. While the overall preference for AI-generated images was strong, particularly for items like burgers and roasted chicken, the standard deviation of \(\pm\)19.75 highlights significant variation across products. This suggests that AI's visual appeal is not uniform and may depend on product complexity or recognizability, which should be explored in future research. Nonetheless, it is essential to note that this does not imply professional adequacy, particularly in terms of accurate color rendition, realistic texture, and the recognizability of each product's distinguishing features. In other words, visual appeal does not necessarily equate to fidelity or reality. Figure 21 presents detailed preference results for AI-generated images, showing, for each meat product, the number of respondents who selected the AI-generated image as preferable versus those who chose the photograph. AI was used to generate a highly varied range of meat product images in terms of preference percentages among non-expert viewers. The most preferred AI-generated items were chosen by 92.90% of respondents, while the least preferred were selected by 31.42%. Notably, even the least-selected image garnered a substantial proportion of preferences, suggesting a broad increase in the acceptance of AI-generated content, irrespective of specific demographic factors. Adobe Firefly 3 was most successful in generating appealing images of a burger (Figure 15) and roasted chicken, both of which received a 92.90% preference rate. The burger image was preferred by 93.75% of women and 91.27% of men. Notably, these were the only items created with the help of sample photographs, suggesting that reference images enhance the realism and attractiveness of AI outputs. The Carnional sausage image (Figure 20) also scored highly (90.16%), despite experts previously rating it as inadequate due to missing product-specific features. A similar pattern emerged with mortadella (Figure 19), which lacked defining traits but was preferred by 65.30% of respondents. These cases highlight a gap between professional standards and general public preference, underscoring the potential of combining AI tools with expert guidance and reference imagery to improve both visual appeal and accuracy. In addition to the most highly rated cases, eight other images, generated with Adobe Firefly 3, were preferred by more than 50% of respondents. The image of spaghetti bolognese (Figure 16) received the highest preference at 88.25%, followed by chicken medallions (Figure 11) at 75.96%, and the hot dog (Figure 9) at 71.58%. Chicken skewers (Figure 10) were preferred by 70.22% of participants. Preference rates between 65% and 70% were recorded for ham in dough (Figure 18), young beef liver (Figure 7), and mortadella (Figure 19). The last AI image to receive more than 50% preference was Wiener schnitzel (Figure 8), at 63.11%.