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Some say that one of the key differences between humans and computers is the ability to be creative — to devise something as unprecedented as a Jackson Pollock or influential as Wagner’s
Ring Cycle. Sure, a PC can process at incredible speeds, but what role does it have in cultural or culinary creativity?
A rather large one, as it turns out.
This Thursday, October 1st, IBM’s
Chef Watson (the same cognitive system that
won Jeopardy! in 2011) will be showing off in the kitchen in front of an intimate gathering of IBM executives and partners. The event, which will take place at
SF’s Cookhouse, is being organized by the
Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in partnership with IBM, who just announced last week that they're preparing to open a
Watson office in SF.
Pre-dinner cooking demos will be executed by the hands of two-time Chopped champion and Director of Culinary Development at the Institute of Culinary Education
Chef James Briscione. Though Briscione has carefully crafted the night's recipes, the dishes wouldn't be possible without the Chef Watson's guidance (Watson is
the metaphoric rat under the chef’s hat for those who speak Pixar). Based on Watson's suggested ingredients, Briscione will cook up a meal that is truly a man and machine collaboration.
It has been advertised that the dinner will “include dishes that utilize unusual ingredient combinations and flavor pairings that humans might never imagine,” which leaves one to question the palate preferences of a computer. Though there is potential for both the unexpected and the truly bizarre, it’s likely that Watson’s final dishes will appeal to a surprisingly broad audience.
That’s because Chef Watson is relying on a little more than his grandmother’s secret recipes or a few seasons of
Top Chef. Having read through thousands of recipes, learned the complex nature of food pairing theories, and memorized hundreds of thousands of flavor compounds and their relationships to one another, Chef Watson is the ultimate culinary match maker, capable of suggesting ingredient combinations and flavor profiles based on science rather than experience.
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Chef Watson has already been put to use by professional chefs and home cooks alike, (the home cook iteration was released this past summer). One of his more interesting dishes is a
Belgian bacon pudding that includes figs, walnuts, buttermilk, honey, and mushrooms (among other ingredients). Watson considers chemistry rather than novelty, which means he won’t steer you wrong by adding unnecessary ingredients or believing that a bit of truffle oil can cover a sea of culinary sins.
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Belgian bacon pudding
Though ICE and IBM alike hope to tantalize the taste buds of eaters and onlookers, their objective in holding this little dinner party is likely less about edible ingenuity and more about promoting the new features of a favorite toy; one with the capacity to do far more than assist with innovative meals. The culinary arts are the tip of the iceberg where
Watson’s capabilities are concerned. If a computer can get creative in the kitchen, there’s no telling where it will stop.
