Sampling the finer cider life that robots can never experience

Martin Hesp joins some illustrious company to sample rare vintage drinks

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This week Google announced a new way of browsing for information online - a system that relies on artificial intelligence to find out, describe or explain whatever it is you wish to learn. Which will no doubt be very useful. But, as an expert told the BBC Today programme, it's the information equivalent of highly-processed food - and I know what most readers of this newspaper will think of that.

These Hesp Out West pages are the antidote to anything that Al can offer. These articles are all about experiencing something firsthand, whether it's enjoying a walk across a Westcountry hilltop, learning how to fillet a fish or luxuriating on a Mediterranean cruise.

No machine is able to deliver a genuine account, because no machine will ever be sent out to experience such a thing. All AI can do is borrow or steal from some real-life human experience that's already been written about, and come up with some bland account of its own.

I believe there will be an increasing need for the delivery of "authentic real-life experience" as time goes by, as humans crave genuine input from other people, not ultra-processed or regurgitated information handed out by an AI-powered conveyor-belt.

So when my friend James Crowden invited me to a special Westcountry lunch where rare vintage ciders and perrys were going to be tasted, I couldn't possibly say no.

No machine would ever be invited to such an event - certainly not until they invent one with the ability to taste and sniff.

I've just asked Google Gemini: "Describe the taste and complexities of a bottle of 2003 Bollhayes Cider..."

It replies with a pretty reasonable: "It would likely have a full-bodied, rich and dry flavour profile with notes of classic spicy and citrusy characteristics."