Hey Gemini, what should I cook today?

Artificial Intelligence is offering chefs and recipe developers fresh sparks in the kitchen, but also raising questions about creativity

- Rituparna Roy

A few weeks ago, Mumbai-based chef and content creator Natasha Gandhi took the help of Google Gemini to come up with recipes using leftover chapatis. In the Instagram video, she asks the AI chatbot—“Gemini, I have leftover chapatis. How can I make a new, tasty and quick snack?”

Gemini does a “your wish is my command”, and what follows are recipes for chapati chips, chapati enchiladas and stir-fried chapati noodles. Gandhi gets cracking with her pots and pans. Her followers want to cook them all.

When the team at Hunger Inc., the Mumbai-based hospitality group was brainstorming for Christmas-themed treats, they took to AI tools for ideas. Founder Yash Bhanage used a simple prompt: “A Gingerbread Man inspired by an Indian halwai, fun, playful, mithai-style character.” Within minutes, it generated visuals of a gingerbread man, only in this case, with a moustache and wearing a dhoti.

The time is here when chefs, content creators and food businesses around the world are seeking the help of generative AI to stay ahead of the game. It often serves the push they need to generate new ideas in the form of innovative recipes, menu planning and plating dishes. Al-powered applications can now assist recipe creators by decoding ingredient information and flavour combinations, and suggest unique pairings that they can test and develop. Prompts work like an accelerator and the response for practically everything is out there. While cooking essentially is a human experience, and as a culture much of it relies on instinct, what is the scope for creativity? More importantly, can a machine inspire a human to create a stellar dish?