Welcome to Adventures with AI, a column exploring what happens when artificial intelligence takes control of everyday tasks.
Eating out is one of my great pleasures; cooking is not.
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With so many recipes now online, GPT-3 must have learned its way around the kitchen.
I put my stomach on the line to find out.
For my starter, I whipped up a plate of honey and soy-glazed vegetables.
The model suggested every ingredient youd expect from such a dish except for the vegetables.
Id probably eat my own foot.
Perhaps Im being unfair.
A steady diet of fast food and cigarettes may have rendered my tastebuds incapable of appreciating GPT-3s subtle flavors.
Have I judged the model too harshly?
Each vegetable has a different cooking time, so these are poor instructions.
The AI also recommends storing vegetables for five days and sauce for three days.
I would say the life span would be the other way round.
But this main course made me wish I could skip to the epilogue.
Theres no polite way of saying this: it looks like a turd.
One of those really disgusting turds that make you question your life choices.
In fairness, it tasted better than it looked but not by much.
GPT-3 recommended so much raw garlic I felt like I was eating a vampires nightmare.
On the plus side, the garlic suppressed the flavor of the undercooked tomatoes.
And blitzing the tomato with the oil will make it emulsify, which would not be an ideal effect.
There were further shortcomings in GPT-3s other recipes.
GPT-3 also showed a curious admiration for Gordon Ramsay.
The model credited every one of its recipes to the sweary Scottish chef.
The solitude has also driven me slightly mad.
So last week I decided to move back in with my momz.
To show my appreciation for her hospitality, I generously offered to cook her an AI-generated recipe.
Instead, I whipped her up some pancakes.
It was undoubtedly the best AI recipe I tried.
But I prefer thinner pancakes.
Le digestif
After a good meal, theres nothing I enjoy more than a stiff drink.
However, I didnt make that one.
The cocktail was extraordinarily sweet, which was just fine by me.
But would it impress the experts?
He didnt envision GPT-3 earning Michelin stars, but did see some potential for AI in the kitchen.
Thats economical and potentially gets rid of wastage.
As for me, Ive got mixed thoughts on AIs culinary skills.
It certainly created some original recipes that no decent chef would have designed.
Unfortunately, the starter and main course were absolutely horrendous.
Still, they cant have been that bad; I ate every morsel and left the table satiated.
But my stomach will neverforgiveme.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
