A coffee shop owner used AI to make a menu poster. Then came the angry DMs.

Megi Endeladze, the owner of Penny's Coffee Shop in Buffalo, NY.

Megi Endeladze Penny's Coffee Shop in Buffalo, NY had a ChatGPT-made seasonal menu poster.

Instagram comments and angry DMs rolled in.

The owner agreed to not use AI art but spoke out against the personal attacks.

The owner, a new mom, tells us she usually made the posters in-house, and hadn't skimped out on hiring an artist.

Megi Endeladze never expected to be at the center of an AI backlash.

She and her husband opened Penny's Coffee Shop in downtown Buffalo, New York three years ago.

Endeladze kept her 9-to-5 as a chiropractor while spending her free time helping out in the shop.

One of the duties she relished was photographing the drinks and menu items, including a few signature items like a cheesy bread dish from their native country, Georgia, for their social media channels and website.

Penny's Coffee Shop would switch seasonal drinks every few months, and Endeladze would photograph the new items herself, and it would end up being a full-day event.

"You have to time it so the foam doesn't deflate," Endeladze explained to Business Insider.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Penny’s Coffee Shop (@pennys_coffeeshop) Then, one of the more artistically gifted baristas would create a chalkboard sign for the new drink menus or promotional specials.

Over the years, there had been several employees skilled with lettering and design, and the duty had always rotated among them, always done in-house.

But this fall, the aesthetically inclined barista who most recently chalked the signs had moved out of town, Endelaydsze said, and there was no one on staff at the moment who had the skill set to do a chalkboard.