It's Thursday, AKA Friday Jr.

🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high of 91 and a low of 73.

🎂 Happy birthday to our members, Ray Daddazio and Marcus Walton!

Sounds like: "A Good Day," Anderson .Paak & Cordae.

This newsletter is 1,041 words, a 4-minute read.

It's a debate so prolific that even our unusually vocal airport weighed in: What do we do about the AI flyers?

Why it matters: From local breweries and markets to your friendly neighborhood landscaper, posters made with generative AI are clogging up social media.

• And the backlash is real: in comment sections, in Reddit threads, and in the feeds of other organizations that broadcast — using more primitive methods — that they'll never resort to AI images.

Friction point: Supporters say it's a tool that can save time and broaden a company's reach, especially for small businesses with tight margins and few employees.

• For AI skeptics, the flyers signal cutting corners (especially when food is involved) and buying into big tech at the potential expense of local artists, the environment and creativity itself.

Case in point: Cage Brewing co-owner Christian Walker grew so frustrated with the snarky comments on his AI-made flyers that he unleashed a rant on Facebook.

• "Most of the flyers, graphics and promotional pieces we create with AI would have never existed in the first place," he wrote. "We weren't deciding between hiring a designer or using AI."
• Walker has since deleted the post, but it lives on in screenshots on Reddit, where the flyer debate raged in the comments.

Zoom in: Walker's $20-a-month ChatGPT account helps him churn out posters for Cage's near-daily live music lineup. He posts them on social media, where algorithms favor visuals, and on the brewery's calendar wall.

• The critics, he told Axios, miss that Cage pays musicians for shows and visual artists for murals and sculptures (like the giant octopus on the building).
• "I look at these people commenting and think to myself, 'They have no idea what Cage Brewing is about,'" said Walker, who is also a musician, playing bass and singing in the Grateful Dead cover band Dead Set.

Yes, but: He understands fatigue over the monotony of it all. If Cage's AI flyers look the same as everyone else's, what's the point?

• "This place has a sh--load of character," said Jamaica Jenkins, who Walker hired in the last few weeks to help with business development and social media. "If we're not showcasing that, maybe we should pivot."

The other side: The human eye for good design is part of why Sun-Ray Cinema co-owner Tim Massett largely avoids AI.

• He's worked with two designers who have "shaped Sun-Ray's image over the years," he told Axios.

The latest: Noting that a designer wasn't available, Massett recently posted a bare-bones list of Sun-Ray's October film lineup. While he didn't intend it as a statement on AI use, some of the comments took it there:

• "I would take this 100 times before some ai slop poster," one commenter wrote.

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Have you ever landed at another airport after flying out of Tampa International, navigated a maze of signs and shuttles to find baggage claim, and thought, "Wow, we're spoiled?"

• Well, you're not alone, and you're not wrong.

The big picture: A new report from J.D. Power, a market research company, ranked TPA highest among large airports in North America for passenger satisfaction.

• Tampa International scored 715 on a 1,000-point scale from travelers, who found it to be "well-designed, well-run," and brimming with food and retail options.
• The airport received specific praise for how easy it is to navigate the terminal and, of course, our beloved flamingo, Phoebe!

The fine print: The findings are based on more than 24,000 surveys from U.S. and Canadian residents who had traveled through an airport in either country within the last month.

• The two airport design features most tied to passenger satisfaction were clear signs that make it easy to get around and architecture that reflects the character of the city.

Zoom out: Other Florida airports ranked high, too.

• Southwest Florida International Airport ranked ninth among large airports.
• Among mega airports, Miami ranked seventh and Orlando International 10th.

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🏟️ Members of the Tampa Sports Authority, which manages Raymond James Stadium, said they had no role in removing Macklemore from Ed Sheeran's tour stop in the city. (Tampa Bay Times)

✈️ St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport signed a five-year contract with budget airline Allegiant that is expected to yield an additional $8 million in revenue. (Tampa Bay Business Journal)

🍷 La La's Sangria Bar in Tampa's Channelside District has closed after six years, joining a growing list of shuttered restaurants across the region. (Creative Loafing Tampa Bay)

We're rolling toward the weekend.

• Here are a few ways to spend it, in and around Tampa.

🏈 Buccaneers vs. Cleveland Browns, West Tampa: Head to Raymond James Stadium to see the Bucs face off against the Browns in their home opener.

• Sunday, 1pm. Tickets start at $68. 4201 North Dale Mabry Highway.

⛸️ Skate Through the Decades, Wesley Chapel: Lace up and skate to hits from the '70s through the 2000s at AdventHealth Center Ice, with throwback outfits encouraged.

• Saturday, 6:30-8:30pm. Tickets are $22 online and $25 at the door. 3173 Cypress Ridge Boulevard.

🕺 Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final, Downtown Tampa: Watch 16 of the country's top street dancers go head-to-head in freestyle battles at the Tampa Convention Center, with the crowd deciding who advances.

• Saturday, 6:30-10pm. Tickets start at $10.50. 333 South Franklin Street.

How do y'all feel about AI posters? Love 'em? Hate 'em? Don't care? Rant it out!

• Or if you're a business owner/organizer/hostess with the mostest: Do you use them yourself, or nah? If nah, what do you use instead?

📬 Hit reply or email [email protected], and we may include your response in a future newsletter!

🙌 Kathryn is shouting out reader Chris C. for correctly guessing Flo's location! Sorry your email got lost!

🥹 Yacob snagged a copy of the Tampa Tribune's millennium edition, which now sits inside the Trib honor box in his home office.

This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.