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Last week, I talked about my first disturbing encounter with AI—discovering a copycat of my cookbook on Amazon that many thought might have been produced by a robot. The massive exploitation of human creativity and art is undoubtedly a major flaw in the current explosion of artificial intelligence. So, it’s easy to see why some believe we should ditch AI altogether, that the next technological frontier is better left unexplored. But what about AI and food?
I have been a vegetarian for over seven years. And for the most part? It’s been pretty easy. I’d be lying, though, if I didn’t say there are certain flavors, textures and food experiences I miss. One of these is my grandmother’s gomtang—a Korean dish that would take her days to make for me. Another one? Ooey, gooey, melty, stretchy mozzarella cheese.
Enter: Oliver Jahn. The former chief data scientist at Google is now the CEO of Climax Foods, a California-based company committed to saving the planet by creating more sustainable ways to feed the world. Start with the cheese. How does the robot fit into the picture? As Oliver describes, the robots aren’t actually inside the cheese, and the robots aren’t even making the cheese. Instead, Jahn, a Harvard grad and astrophysicist, uses machine learning to collect, integrate, and analyze large amounts of data to identify the best combination of plants to produce delicious, nutritious, and affordable food.
There are over 300,000 edible plants on the planet, not to mention their countless origins and combinations. Simply put, it would take thousands of years to hire, teach, and compensate people to experiment with them all. Climax Foods uses AI to do that work for us — thus speeding up the process in time to, as I said, save the planet. Because that’s all you matter—we don’t have thousands of years to do it.
So, without further ado…
The Future of Food with Oliver Jahn
Apple Spotify | Google
This Week’s Recipe Inspo – Korean BBQ “Meatballs”
In case you missed it, last week, I joined the dynamic morning duo, Kelly and Mark, to show you how I make my Korean BBQ Meatballs. You can watch the full episode here. I came up with these “meatballs” for my next cookbook and they were so good I couldn’t wait to share them with everyone on TV! A tip– Make the mixture the night before. Then it will have time to dry out a bit so the meatballs are a little firmer when you close them and bake them. Otherwise, you can get the full recipe here!
Updates and random stuff.
- What I see. We made it through two whole seasons the americans. Is it addictive? Yes. Anthony and I are now fully invested in the characters. But is it “best TV drama of all time” quality? no Not yet, at least. It definitely gives me Sopranos meets The Wire vibes, but so far, the writing has been a little too inconsistent to even be considered worthy of TV’s Mount Rushmore.
- What are you looking at? Speaking of TV Mount Rushmore, last week, I told you what to do yours TV’s Mount Rushmore. Tammy, a new K-drama-phile, recommends: Vincenzo, Little Lady, Extraordinary Attorney Wu, And Itaewon class. Tammy added, “I’m Caucasian American and my daughter is Korean and when we discovered K-drama it changed our world! I find the plots very interesting and they help me decompress because, even though I’m learning Korean, I have to focus on reading English subtitles and I can’t multitask while watching.” Thanks Tammy!
- What I am reading. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was featured in the July issue Food and wine 2023 as a game changer. You can pick up a copy wherever you find your favorite magazine or here!
- Book signing in France! I will be in Cannes, France June 19-22. If you’re in the area on the afternoon of June 22nd, let me know and I can add you to the list of people I’m meeting to sign your books!
And that’s a wrap, everyone!!
– Joan
