When I tell people about my use of the Sous-Vide in the kitchen, the response is split 50/50 between impressed with my level of precision or unenthused under the assumption its done out of laziness (passive, allows me to do other things than stand in front of the stove). Like many things, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. However, I have been juggling several balls recently and have found a true ‘cheat code’ in the kitchen to save me some time: Artificial Intelligence or ‘AI’ for short.
Over the past year or so, we have all seen some unbelievable applications of AI that seem to be reinventing the way many processes are done. For me, practically speaking, my most common use is via the Chat GPT app, taking and uploading pictures of whatever challenge I am dealing with and asking for a clear and concise solution. For example, “magically” a glass shower door came off its hinge while my nieces and nephews played Hide and Seek. When it came to fixing it, I began with taking a quick picture of the door from the front and from above to see the hinge, uploaded and asked, ‘how do I fix this?’ In total, this took no more than 20 seconds. The prescriptive response can be found below. Pretty amazing. Even more amazing, when stuck on step 189 of 300 while building furniture, I can take a single picture that includes the account manual and the status of the furniture followed by several extremely specific questions, notes and conversations with the AI to find a solution. The AI can ‘read’ the picture taken in real time, see the exact model of what I’m building and scrape every corner of the internet universe to deliver a quick and often accurate answer to my specific questions. It’s not as binary as the AI finding the exact model number and pulling the exact verbiage in the instruction manual which I have. It’s much more impressive, by searching tangential ideas, best practices with the millions of other products, tinkering strategies, all in a cohesive response.
With the success of solving my ‘handy’ problems with AI and uploading pictures, I decided to bring these lazy talents to the kitchen. With a stocked fridge and limited inspiration, I took a picture and asked Chat GPT what chicken dish I should make for dinner with the available ingredients seen in the picture. Instantly I received a list of potential dishes complete with basic, concise recipes and instructions, deciding to go with the Baked Chicken & Veggie Casserole. It was delightful.
While AI in this case is helpful, it is most certainly a crutch in many applications. Early studies now are showing the reduced brain activity in children and teens leveraging AI as it circumvents much of learning and problem-solving processes. More and more do I feel like the crotchety old man on the porch, thankful that I didn’t grow up as a child with this type of technology…
