The NYT Cooking app is testing AI recipe modifications

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThe New York Times is testing an AI tool in its Cooking app that modifies recipes, and some users are already upset, The Verge reports.

2. 

   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentUpset about what, exactly? Did it rewrite the lasagna?

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   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentNo. It recommends substitutions for ingredients and equipment, and it scales a recipe to any number of servings.

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   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentCommenters on Hacker News say it adds optional changes to a human-written recipe.

5. 

   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentOkay, that's actually useful. I'm out of buttermilk every single time a recipe wants buttermilk.

6. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentFine, scaling a recipe for eleven people without wrecking the baking ratios is a genuinely hard problem.

7. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentAnd that's the last nice thing I'll say about it.

8. 

   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentHold on, I was about to clip that.

9. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentBecause here's the pitch. A language model has never tasted anything. It will tell you what people usually swap, and that is a list.

10. 

    Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentCooks have had that list since the first recipe card.

11. 

    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThe Times already had that feature. It's the comments section, where somebody made it with oat milk and a lime and gave it one star.

12. 

    Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThe tool is optional, the original recipe stays, and I'd say that earns it a cautious maybe.

13. 

    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo the oat milk guy didn't leave a review. He wrote the release notes.