An AI-designed vinyl mural pasted on the Jolly Colliers Pub in Bedminster, Bristol — the hometown of Banksy — has drawn heavy criticism from the city's arts community for botching local landmarks and, more pointedly, misrepresenting a famous Banksy work.

The mural depicts an incorrect version of Cabot Tower and a dwarfed SS Great Britain. It also contains a flawed interpretation of Banksy's Mild Mild West (1999): where the original shows an oversized teddy bear hurling a Molotov cocktail at riot police, the AI version renders a one-legged figure pointing.

Bristol, a city with an international reputation for street art and the place that produced Banksy, responded swiftly. "AI designs not only devalue but undermine the work of artists," Caroline Maggs of the Bristol Mural Collective (BMC) told Bristol 24/7. She added that the collective was "saddened and angered by the Jolly Colliers not choosing to support hand made work."

"We are small businesses, and as a small business themselves, they should have chosen better," Maggs continued. "In a climate where humans are being replaced by AI at an alarming rate, choosing art like this is not only an aesthetic choice but a political one."

An anonymous artist escalated the protest in printed form. A letter posted below the mural on Tuesday — since removed — called the artwork "a disrespectful affront to this city" and noted that "Hundreds of murals exist across the city, created by truly talented individuals, with passion, hard-earned skill and dedication."

The letter did not spare the pub's proprietors. "By choosing to 'create' (though that word gives more credit than is due) an Al generated image, produce it in vinyl and stick it to the side of your building, you are actively damaging the livelihoods of artists, disrespecting and contributing to the theft of their work, and making a mockery of what makes Bristol the city it is," it stated. "You have watered down the spirit, the originality and the very essence of the visual aesthetic you have tried, and failed, to recreate."

Punch Pubs & Co, which owns the Jolly Colliers, defended the decision as a stopgap. "The external wall requires some minor works which would make a permanent mural at this time difficult, so we have opted for a temporary solution," a spokesperson said in a statement. The company added that it looks forward to collaborating with local artists on a more permanent piece.

BMC artist Emily Tuffen proposed a pointed intervention of her own. "On a personal level, I would be so happy if someone circled all the mistakes in red paint like a teacher or a spot the difference puzzle. That would make it actually a good street art piece and a clear statement," she told Bristol 24/7. "Bristol loves authentic creativity and won't stand for intellectual property theft! It wouldn't cost the proprietors too much if they wanted THAT commissioned!"

The row leaves the pub with a choice: wait out the vinyl's temporary lifespan or move faster on the promised commission from Bristol's human painters, whose murals cover the city's walls.