If you describe someone or their behaviour as artificial, you disapprove of them because they pretend to have attitudes and feelings which they do not really have.
If you say that food tastes or looks artificial, you do not like it because its taste or appearance does not seem genuine, and seems to be created by added substances.
"that artificial humility that her husband hated""contrived coyness""a stilted letter of acknowledgment""when people try to correct their speech they develop a stilted pronunciation"
3. not arising from natural growth or characterized by vital processes