A Phoenix gay bar announced a plan to use AI. Should they?

This story was first published by LOOKOUT, an investigative nonprofit news organization covering Arizona’s LGBTQ+ communities.

Is there a reason for a bar to use artificial intelligence? According to Stacy’s at Melrose, an LGBTQ+ bar in Phoenix’s Melrose District, the answer is yes.

In a Jan. 3 announcement on Instagram, the bar promoted its soon-to-be chatbot powered by Google Gemini — cheekily named MOTHR — that would serve as the go-to for questions about the bar’s hours, performances and events, according to the announcement.

What sets MOTHR apart from other chatbots you might find elsewhere? For one, it’s got a “sassy” tone that one might find from a tongue-in-cheek drag queen emcee, as opposed to the monotone, purely informational chatbots you might find on other websites.

But since the announcement, community members online have turned against Stacy’s and criticized their decision to install an A.I.-based chatbot. They argue that queer spaces should be sensitive to — if not downright eradicate — using the technology. On Jan. 9, community members gathered outside Stacy’s on Melrose to protest the bar’s decision, with a goal to “pack the bar.” 

The bar responded online with a less-than-well-received message on how A.I. is a frontier that is part of the foreseeable future, whether we like it or not. 

But the online chaos, in-person frustrations, and community discussions have raised existential questions on how queer spaces use A.I., what the technology’s role can be for small businesses that cater to queer people, and who should be the decision-makers on what’s allowed — and in this case not allowed — for using A.I.

MOTHR’s inception

Brandon Slayton, co-owner of Stacy’s, told LOOKOUT that MOTHR’s implementation was in the works for months. It came from a need for optimization, he said. Due to the bar’s wide variety of events happening on all days of the week, it became tedious to constantly update the site.

Slayton said his experiences in advertising informed his decision to implement the chatbot. He noted that building a custom web app could take six months to complete in his past projects. With A.I. tools, such as prompting a large-language-model like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to build technical code to build a webpage, it’s quicker to make.

“All the development time that would take to implement something like that, in the last year, has been essentially democratized,” he said. “The tools that you’re able to use with A.I. … you’re really able to implement these web applications that are professional-grade.”

On Jan. 3, the MOTHR announcement went public, along with a brief caption noting the bot’s purpose: helping staff with schedules, updating the website and other internal work. But later down the line, it’s supposed to work like a Frequently Asked Questions page serving performers and guests, answering their questions about showtimes, drinks and closing hours.

Immediately after posting, online users took to the comments section to denounce the bar’s decision. They argued that the bar was taking jobs away and was contributing to environmental harm in the region. 

Following that initial post, Stacy’s turned their comments off. That didn’t stop users from questioning the reason behind the implementation on photos posted days after the announcement. 

Some comments expressed disappointment toward the bar they consider a safe space, while others demanded that Stacy’s step back from MOTHR completely: “So are you gonna turn the comments on that gross AI post orrrrr,” said one post. 

Two days later, the bar responded to those comments with a long-form explanation and defense as to why they’re implementing MOTHR. Some reasons include reducing burnout and technological shifts in the business landscape. Concerns about environmental impact and current generative A.I. use were also addressed in the note.

Slayton is aware that the negative response is largely charged by the chatbot’s A.I. source. But he said that the business won’t be shying away from using A.I., especially at a time when it feels like it can’t be avoided. Instagram and Facebook have Meta AI; Adobe Creative Cloud has Firefly.

“We have this ticking clock now, everybody is figuring out how to use it,” he said. “AI is going to change things so drastically that we can’t comprehend how it’s gonna change things. I’d rather be aware of it, utilizing it, riding the wave and being comfortable with it.”  

The in-person backlash

Drag performers Jacon the Box and Daddy Satan organized the demonstration following the bar’s announcement of the AI helper. 

The demonstration itself saw no more than a dozen people, but demonstrators got a few honks from cars on the street as well as support from bar-goers on their way to the “Ru Paul’s Drag Race” watch party. One demonstrator would shout “We have anti-A.I. pins …” that on occasion would pull someone on their way inside, taking a pin before walking inside.

Jacon the Box, whose real name is Jacon Holtz, said the goal with the demonstration was not to “cancel” the bar, but instead educate customers on the decisions being made inside Stacy’s. Her flyers online encouraged people to pack the bar and tip their performers and bartenders. Outside, she reminded demonstrators and onlookers that “this conversation deserved nuance.” 

In an address to demonstrators, Holtz mentioned AI’s impacts on the environment along with some statistics involving Gemini, MOTHR’s power source. 

“Living in a desert, our water is sacred to us,” she said. “Especially when our globe starts to heat up, we’re gonna be the first ones to feel those effects.” 

Safety was also top of mind for Holtz. She mentioned its use by government agencies such as ICE. The agency is reported to have partnered up with Palantir Technologies to create the platform ImmigrationOS, which uses AI to streamline deportations through tracking and data mining, according to the American Immigration Council. 

“When we continue to desensitize ourselves to AI, it leaves major gaps in our safety and thinking,” said Holtz. “Allowing AI to slowly creep into our spaces could end up jeopardizing them and leaving us exposed.”

Holtz knows that the technology is nearly unavoidable and is aware of its possible benefits, but believes individuals could play their part in doing smaller things to protect themselves from harmful use, whether it’s by declining privacy statements or unchecking boxes that allows generative AI to train itself using user-generated data. 

Last week, X’s Grok AI came under fire for the creation of nonconsensual sexual images of people. Days later, PBS reported that the Pentagon would be implementing Grok into its network. 

“It’s not a net-100 negative, but we do need to realize where the line should be drawn,” Holtz said. 

What’s unclear, though, is who should be the ones drawing those lines.

What’s next for MOTHR? 

Slayton said there aren’t any plans to further develop MOTHR beyond a sassy chatbot helper, or increase its use of other AI tools. He said he’s still learning as the chatbot takes shape.

“She’s gonna do what she’s doing, and whenever people ask questions she’ll answer them and we’ll see how it goes from there,” he said. “It was just meant to be a tool that’s helpful.”

In response to mentions of AI-generated graphics on televisions, he says it’s done under certain circumstances, and in a way that ensures a pair of eyes is still editing and keeping things looking right.

The bar’s main focus remains on the individuals and the happenings inside the bar, Slayton said. Stacy’s remains a place for queer people to come and enjoy themselves, and for it to continue doing that, the team is adopting new tools to be able to compete and remain a sustainable business, according to the note from the bar.

“Chatbots have been around for 10 years. We didn’t create anything new. We just gave it a name.”