Top chef leverages AI to create innovative recipes, critics say he’s “out of ideas”

Michelin-starred chef Grant Achatz is pushing the boundaries of culinary creativity by incorporating AI into his high-end dining experience. The award-winning chef is now using ChatGPT to generate recipes for a nine-course meal at his Chicago restaurant Next, creating fictional chef personas with imagined training backgrounds from culinary masters like Ferran Adrià and Jiro Ono. This controversial approach highlights the growing tension between traditional culinary artistry and technological innovation in the restaurant industry, where AI is increasingly being deployed for various business functions.

The big picture: Achatz, a multiple James Beard award winner, is leveraging ChatGPT to create recipes for his Michelin-starred restaurant by having the AI assume different fictional chef identities.

• He instructs the AI to create personas such as “Jill, a 33-year-old woman from Wisconsin” who has supposedly trained under legendary chefs like Ferran Adrià and Jiro Ono.
• The AI then generates recipes that would reflect these imaginary chefs’ personal and professional influences, creating a technologically-mediated interpretation of established culinary traditions.

Industry reactions: The culinary world has responded with significant criticism to Achatz’s AI experimentation, viewing it as undermining authentic culinary expertise.

• Critics on social media called it “an insult to Ferran Adrià, Jiro Ono, and the many talented chefs who work for Achatz that have actual experience that could be reflected in a dish.”
• Others suggested Achatz is “out of ideas” and “outsourcing his work to AI” for meals that can cost diners up to $1,000.

Expert assessment: Food critic Morgan Wujkowski highlighted fundamental limitations in AI’s culinary capabilities.

• AI “lacks common sense and culinary experience” and “follows algorithms, not tastebuds,” resulting in outputs that are “at best, incomplete, and at worst, faulty data.”
• Wujkowski emphasized that “Human creativity and intuition are paramount in recipe development” and that while AI might assist with meal planning, “actual human taste testing is irreplaceable.”

The broader trend: Achatz’s AI experiment represents just one example of the restaurant industry’s increasing adoption of artificial intelligence technologies.

• Many restaurants have already implemented AI for surge pricing, marketing automation, employee surveillance, and kitchen operations in efforts to reduce costs.
• This shift raises questions about authenticity, creativity, and the value proposition of high-end dining experiences when technological shortcuts replace human expertise and intuition.