Unlocking Culinary Potential: How tasteTAILOR elevates your Cooking Experience with Generative AI

18

October

2024

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In today’s fast-paced world, health-conscious individuals and families often struggle to find the time and inspiration to cook nutritious meals. Therefore, we are presenting tasteTAILOR: a revolutionary digital culinary assistant that harnesses the power of Generative AI (GenAI) to streamline your cooking experience. It is designed to create recipes tailored to users’ diet choices, available ingredients, and kitchen appliances – offering a unique and personalized way of cooking. To streamline the cooking experience even further, tasteTAILOR seamlessly integrates its ingredient list with partner supermarkets. TasteTAILOR even offers a social community where users can share their experiences in the kitchen, get inspiration from other users, and connect with individuals with similar culinary interests.

Objectives and Value Proposition

TasteTAILOR’s most important objective is to grant customers the highest level of user satisfaction possible by making meal planning easy, seamless shopping through APIs, and engaging with the community through food recommendations powered by GenAI. Fundamentally, tasteTAILOR is committed to reducing food waste and fostering sustainable and healthy cooking with recipes to fit every taste.
We at tasteTAILOR present a multi-dimensional value proposition. We propose new dishes tailored to specific tastes but it will also generate shopping lists in supermarket applications in a hassle-free manner. Our customers can benefit from the step-by-step visual and audio instructions so that cooking can become enjoyable for everybody. The community feature provides an exciting way to connect with other like-minded culinary enthusiasts. 

Target Customer Segments

TasteTAILOR’s services are a perfect fit for several customer segments, for instance, busy professionals who have limited time to cook  but desire healthy recipes, students who are on an extremely tight budget and advanced hobby cooks who want to experiment with different types of cuisine and connect with other home cooks. The application also applies to people with special diet needs, making it the most suitable solution for those looking for a personalized cooking experience.

Key Activities and Resources

Key activities of tasteTAILOR include the design of customized recipes, using the power of GenAI technology. The personalization power comes from the analysis of user behavior, tracking one’s activity in the community, and through capturing user’s (daily) preferences.  Logically, the key resource of tasteTAILOR is the GenAI system that is woven throughout the entire business model, from generating recipes to chatbots intended for user interaction, and analytics that are inducted continuously for better personalization.

Challenges and Solutions

While the integration of GenAI offers significant benefits to the tasteTAILOR platform, it also comes with potential pitfalls, such as data privacy issues or technical glitches. The platform has taken stringent actions to consider these risks, implementing robust security measures and algorithm enhancement. The education of users through tutorials and community building is another crucial component in the adoption of AI-powered cooking solutions.

The Future of Meal Planning

Among the new generation of meal-planning applications and technological substitutions in a broader perspective, tasteTAILOR stands at the very top of elevating one’s cooking experience. TasteTAILOR offers personalized solutions that are not just tailored to the individual but are also ecologically-conscious. Taking everything into account, tasteTAILOR is not a meal planner; instead, it is a community-driven solution to empower its users to cook healthy recipes based on their own preferences. TasteTAILOR powered by GenAI is making cooking joyful.

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My Personal Chef

10

October

2024

5/5 (2)

Since its launch, I’ve mainly used ChatGPT to help me summarize academic articles and brainstorm ideas. Yesterday, I decided to let the LLM help me decide what to eat that night (OpenAI, 2024).

I rearranged the ingredients in my fridge so the main items were visible, moving condiments toward the back. I took a picture and uploaded it to ChatGPT with the prompt:

“What can I make for dinner tonight with these ingredients? I’m willing to go to the store for some additional ingredients needed.”

That’s it—just as if I asked a friend on the phone for a suggestion on what to make for dinner tonight, I asked the OpenAI model.

What it returned blew me away: (please note that formatted the output for visual appearances in this blog post).

“Here’s a simple recipe using the ingredients you have, plus some optional additions you could pick up from the store.

Butterscotch Pumpkin and Vegetable Curry

Ingredients from your pantry/fridge:

  • Butterscotch pumpkin
  • Carrots
  • Zucchini
  • Red bell peppers
  • Onions
  • Potatoes (optional, for a heartier curry)
  • Curry powder or paste (red or yellow)

Additions from the store (optional):

  • Coconut milk (for a creamier curry)
  • Fresh cilantro (for garnish)
  • Protein like chickpeas, tofu, or chicken

Instructions:

  1. Prepare the Veggies: Peel and cube the butterscotch pumpkin, and chop the zucchini, bell peppers, carrots, and potatoes.
  2. Sauté the Aromatics: In a large pot, sauté the onions in oil until they’re translucent.
  3. Add Spices: If you have curry powder or paste, add it to the onions and cook for a minute to release the flavours. If you’re using the peanut sauce as a curry base, add it now along with a dash of water.
  4. Add Veggies: Add the butterscotch pumpkin, carrots, and potatoes (if using). Let them cook for a few minutes.
  5. Simmer: Add coconut milk (if using) or water/stock, and simmer until the pumpkin and other veggies are tender (about 20 minutes).
  6. Add Other Veggies: Toss in zucchini and bell peppers, letting them cook for the last 5-7 minutes.
  7. Season: Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, or a touch of sugar if needed.
  8. Serve: Serve your curry over rice (you have poke rice) and garnish with fresh cilantro if you like.

    This will result in a rich, creamy, and slightly sweet curry with the pumpkin flavor shining through!Would you like to go ahead with this, or need adjustments?”

Amazing, right?! I was instantly inspired to cook this delicious-sounding meal and ran to the store for some chicken thighs and cilantro. Lucky for me, I already had the coconut milk, which the AI didn’t recognize in the picture.

For this blog post, I asked GPT to create an image inspired by this recipe:

While writing this blog post, I wondered if ChatGPT could give me an accurate estimate of the nutritional value of the dish, so I asked:

Caloric breakdown (per serving):

  • B. Pumpkin (100g)
    • Calories: 45
    • Carbohydrates: 11g
    • Protein: 1g
    • Fat: 0g
  • Carrots (50g)
    • Calories: 20
    • Carbohydrates: 4.5g
    • Protein: 0.5g
    • Fat: 0g
  • Zucchini (50g)
    • Calories: 8
    • Carbohydrates: 1.5g
    • Protein: 0.5g
    • Fat: 0g
  • Total:
  • Calories: 605 kcal
  • Carbohydrates: 86g
  • Protein: 28.8g
  • Fat: 15.5g
  • Bell Pepper (50g)
    • Calories: 15
    • Carbohydrates: 3g
    • Protein: 0.5g
    • Fat: 0g
  • Onion (30g)
    • Calories: 12
    • Carbohydrates: 3g
    • Protein: 0.3g
    • Fat: 0g
  • Coconut Milk (50ml)
    • Calories: 90
    • Carbohydrates: 2g
    • Protein: 1g
    • Fat: 9g
  • Curry Paste (15g)
    • Calories: 25
    • Carbohydrates: 5g
    • Protein: 0.5g
    • Fat: 0g
  • Rice (200g cooked)
    • Calories: 260
    • Carbohydrates: 56g
    • Protein: 5g
    • Fat: 0.5g
  • Chicken Thighs (100g)
    • Calories: 130
    • Carbohydrates: 0g
    • Protein: 19g
    • Fat: 6g

I am stunned! I checked the values online, and the caloric values only differed slightly (Grutto, 2024a; Voedingscentrum, 2024b). Not only does it give dinner suggestions and inspire me to make dinner with the ingredients I already have at home, but I can also keep a rough estimate of the macros I’ve consumed.
Imagine being on a diet and going out to eat with a friend. You want to keep track of your caloric intake but don’t want to bother bringing a scale to weigh your food with every new dish. Now you just take a picture, upload it to your Instagram story, and later upload it to ChatGPT to make a nutritional value estimate for you.

While this experience was undeniably impressive for me, it’s important to consider some limitations. For instance, the AI didn’t recognize the coconut milk in my picture, which was a key ingredient in the recipe it suggested. This highlights that image recognition technology isn’t foolproof, and you cannot rely on it 100%.
Also, while the nutritional estimates were close to official sources, they weren’t exact. For those with strict dietary requirements or allergies, relying solely on AI for nutritional information might not be a wise idea.
Lastly, uploading photos of your fridge or meals means sharing personal data with an AI service and thus can be a privacy concern. It’s important to be mindful of what you’re sharing and know how that data might be used or stored.

My experiment with using ChatGPT as a personal AI-chef was both enlightening and exciting. The ease of requesting a tailored dinner suggestion and a nutritional breakdown based on the contents of my fridge, shows me the potential of AI in everyday life. While there are limitations to consider, the benefits show a glimpse of the exciting future to come.

In the end, I find it amazing how the technology I first only use as a study and search tool, can also inspire me in other parts of everyday life. With my personal AI-chef, dinner dilemmas are a thing of the past.

Bibliography

Grutto, 2024, Bio Kipdijfilets bereiding en informatie Grutto! Available at: https://www.grutto.com/nl/vleesstuk/bio-kipdijfilet.

OpenAI, 2024, ChatGPT Available at: https://chatgpt.com.

Voedingscentrum, 2024, Hoeveel calorieën zitten erin? – Caloriechecker | Voedingscentrum Available at: https://www.voedingscentrum.nl/nl/service/vraag-en-antwoord/gezonde-voeding-en-voedingsstoffen/hoeveel-calorieen-zitten-erin-.aspx.

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AI Meets the Kitchen

10

October

2024

No ratings yet.

When I was younger, I used to dislike cooking. It always seemed overwhelming to me since there were so many different techniques, recipes and ingredients. I was often confused, especially when trying to come up with meals based on whatever I had at home. However, when I began exploring different generative AI tools, my perspective shifted completely. These AI tools transformed cooking into something enjoyable and creative rather than a chore I needed to finish as soon as possible.

One of the most valuable tools in my cooking journey has been ChatGPT. Instead of spending hours browsing cooking websites or watching YouTube videos, I can simply ask ChatGPT what to cook using the ingredients I have at home. It generates personalized recipe ideas along with step-by-step instructions, which saves me time and reduces food waste by helping me make the most of what’s on hand. Additionally, I use it to create customized meal plans tailored to my dietary goals, such as increasing protein intake or following a gluten-free diet. Below is an example of a weekly meal plan I’ve created with ChatGPT’s help.


I also believe that generative AI can be a useful tool for menu and recipe creation in restaurants. By generating novel recipes based on specific criteria like ingredient availability or dietary preferences, AI helps restaurants stay competitive and offer unique menu options. It can assist chefs by suggesting adjustments, reducing the time needed for recipe development. AI simplifies parts of the creative process, allowing restaurants to consistently introduce new dishes while reducing the pressure on the culinary teams.

As generative AI continues to evolve, its potential to revolutionize at-home cooking and the restaurant industry continues to grow. Whether you are a beginner like myself or a professional chef, I believe that generative AI can enhance everyone’s cooking experience.

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For All The Lazy Cooks Out There!

17

October

2018

5/5 (1) We all know that the manufacturing industry is utilizing robots on a mass scale for their production. They do the heavy lifting and are more capable in complex precision work than us. It seems like robots could solve anything, but could they also cook for us?

Apparently, one start-up asked the same question and made their goal to develop the first domestic intelligent cooking robot that can just do that. The company is called Moley and they already have a working prototype under development. Moley is capable of not just cooking but also cleaning, learning recipes and mimicking the actions of a master chef that can be utilized to improve the cooking process and the food experience.

This dream of a domestic robot that cooks for you while you are away and leaves no mess in your kitchen, sounds really promising and this is the case. Moley is attracting already a lot of culinary chefs and investor that that want to contribute into this technology to further improve its potential.

The industry for professional service robots is growing and sales rose from 2014 to 2015 by 25%, 32,939 units to 41,060 units, to a $ 4.6 billion industry. Furthermore, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) projects the unit sales for professional service robots to 332,200 units with a value of $ 23.1 billion for 2019.

Moley comes with a hefty price tag of approximately $ 15,000, however this does not include just the robot but also an entire purpose-built kitchen environment and utensils that the robot uses for cooking. Depending on the learning capability that utilizes AI, it could provide you also with food recommendations or come up with its own created recipes that are accustomed to your taste preference. The possibilities are endless here and I am personally very excited when this product will have its first commercial launch.

References:

Main

http://time.com/3819525/robot-chef-moley-robotics/

 

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