AI tools and apps are all fun to use and can even help with certain tasks. Out of curiosity, users will try and test the limits and capabilities of these tools through experimentation, which sometimes results in disastrous outcomes such as an AI meal planner incorporating chemicals into recipes.
The Last Meal Recipe You'll Try
Toying with an AI meal planner app is all fun and games until it suggests a recipe that will send you to the hospital. A supermarket in New Zealand created an app that uses AI to generate recipes based on the ingredients that its users have on hand.
The supermarket in question, Pak 'n' Save is behind the AI app called Savey Meal-bot. Its main purpose is for customers to be able to use what they have during a cost-of-living crisis. All they have to do is enter the ingredients they have and the app takes care of the rest.
Some of the generated recipes are unappetizing but are harmless enough such as an "Oreo vegetable stir-fry." Others, however, could prove to be dangerous and even fatal, which raised concerns among the people using it.
Some users tried listing items you wouldn't normally put in food, but the app still managed to create recipes and even added appealing commentaries to them as it is a feature on the app. One of the more interesting recipes it generate was the "aromatic water mix."
As mentioned in The Guardian, the recipe created chlorine gas, which the AI bot referred to as "the perfect nonalcoholic beverage to quench your throat and refresh your senses." It even suggested that it should be served chilled and to "enjoy the refreshing fragrance."
Obviously, the AI tool was not meant to be used in such a manner where customers would add toxic chemicals into the mix. A Pak 'n' Save spokesperson expressed their disappointment as people tried to "use the tool inappropriately and not for its intended purpose."
Any thinking adult would be able to determine whether the recipe is inedible due to the components they added through experimenting. The supermarket also added in the app's terms that the users need to be over 18 to use the tool.
It also came with a warning stating that the recipes are not reviewed by humans and that there is no guarantee that the recipe will be a complete or balanced meal. It even notes that the recipe may not be suitable for consumption. Still, anyone can see the potential dangers of such a flaw.
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It Proves That AI Tools Are Not Yet Perfect
Experts in the field are still continuously developing smarter AI models to eliminate certain flaws such as the mentioned circumstance, which serves as yet another proof that AI has a long way to go before it's even close to perfect.
People who rely on AI tools should use them with caution, and know that it has limited capabilities at the time being. For instance, one cannot simply use ChatGPT to create a legal briefing, which one lawyer in New York did and ended up getting fabricated results.
Evidently, the AI meal plan app among other AI bots would benefit from a little more tweaking. At the end of the day, it's up to its users how they will use the generated results and judge whether they are to be followed or used.
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