Sydney and Melbourne are known to have the best coffee in the world on average. Italian immigrants came over and took what the Italians started and perfected it. McDonald's McCafe was conceptualised and started in Melbourne in 1993, because of Melbourne's strong coffee scene. Australia is the only country that Starbucks failed in, because the coffee here is already too good.
Having said all of this, I still think that about 2/3 of coffee being made by baristas in Sydney is undrinkable. If the beans aren't poor quality or stored incorrectly, the barista will use tap water that is too hard or soft, grind the beans on the wrong setting, over or underextract, overheat the milk until it denatures, not wipe out the previous grind from the portafilter (leading to an ugly, bitter flavour), and do many other little things that ruin the coffee.
I can literally walk into most coffee shops and hear the milk frother "screaming" as the proteins are being denatured. This is the coffee snob capital of the world, and most people still drink terrible coffee without giving it a second thought.
The average consumer doesn't have enough knowledge to have good taste. It's tragic. It sucks. We would have a better world if people cared just a tiny bit more about the things they consume. But they don't, because there isn't enough time and energy in their life to dedicate to truly looking into something.
And this is why I think that there will unfortunately be a demand for AI art. I don't want this to be the case. I hate it. I hope you do too. I hope we all demand higher standards from the art, culture, and goods that we consume.
But as long as people drink bad coffee, they'll read AI slop and recommend it to their friends. It's just how it is.
Here in the UK, I've recently driven a few thousand miles on longer, road trip-style holidays. That has meant more time in service stations than I'm used to, and I'm shocked (but actually not surprised) at the low bar for everything... food, drink, hygiene; all at exorbitant prices. That's before we get to the bits that really indulge our chimp-brains like the fruit machines and "special, limited edition, collaboration-with-contemporary-film milkshake/slushy/burger" that are just complete marketing exercises.
I was left wondering why people accept this? Am I just a snob, or are people legitimately fine with this? One argument is that we're all struggling — financially, emotionally, existentially — and just trying to survive and get through the day. Who cares if this coffee is £7, loaded with sugar and fat to contribute to our systemic illnesses and contains only the barest minimum of lowest-quality coffee? _"It's a hit, and it gets me through."_
And I think this answers a lot! There's a line from the last Bond film, where the evil villain utters something like "people want oblivion, they want no choices and then to die when they're not looking". It's extreme (he's a Bond-baddie after all), but I don't think it's inaccurate. We're so accustomed to everything being a bit shit that we've collectively checked out and accept it. It explains why so much that would have once been unthinkable socially/politically/morally is now just "fine". AI replacing us in the workplace but also in our hobbies is just the next in a long line of insults.
Perhaps we need to put the French in charge for a while? Nothing a good revolution couldn't fix, and at least we'll be manning the barricades with a good coffee in hand...