We keep getting told that AI will take over our jobs, then discovering that AI is really, really bad at doing our jobs. Will it get better someday? Sure — but for the time being, it really feels like the entire internet is turning us into guinea pigs for an unproven and, quite frankly, pretty miserable technology.
This can have real world consequences, as many people discovered during their Thanksgiving dinners. After the holiday weekend, several internet users are complaining about how they or one of their family members accidentally followed an AI-generated recipe for the big meal — and ended up with, fittingly, slop.
As reported by Bloomberg, many of these AI-generated recipes have basic errors that one may not realize unless they’re an experienced chef or baker. For example, one cake recipe called for “cooking a 6-inch cake for 3 to 4 hours at 320°F.” Following another recipe, this one for “maraschino cherry chocolate chip cookies,” results in “a melted sheet of dough with a cloyingly sweet flavor.”
As many of these recipes are simply stolen, they can occasionally work — though garbled or missing details result in them tasting “slightly weird,” as reported by one AI-powered Thanksgiving attendant.
Piece of advice: if you’re going to cook something for the next big family get-together, consult a recipe book — not a robot.