AI watch: The latest on artificial intelligence in food
Mitigating the risk of extinction from artificial intelligence should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.
This is the perspective of non-profit Center for AI Safety, backed up by executives at OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Bill Gates.
But not all working with AI are as concerned about a potential doomsday scenario. In the food industry, the technology is being leveraged to optimise inefficiencies across almost all areas, from agriculture through to new product development, food safety and even retail.
If used wisely, AI holds real promise to create positive disruption. How are food and beverage makers leaning into algorithms and machine learning?
Here’s the latest…
10 May 2024: Seven ways artificial intelligence is shaking up food retail
Artificial intelligence is unlocking innovation in the retail sector, powering everything from smart trolleys to facial recognition checkouts.
3 May 2024: From the environment to AI: Disruptive forces in the food and beverage industry
The past decade has seen seismic shifts in the economic, environmental, political and technological landscapes. But how are these and other influences affecting the food and beverage industry?
24 Apr 2024: Will AI revolutionise how brewers create new beers?
Brewers have long championed the craft and passion behind brewing beer, but scientists believe AI and machine learning has the potential to revolutionise the how the industry develops new brews.
20 Mar 2024: How can AI understand the functional food market and the needs that drive it?
Functional food trends are driven by more than just taste: they’re driven by human need. With AI, the market can be analysed the needs driving consumption understood.
22 Dec 2023: AI and digital tracing: Building efficient and transparent supply chains in 2024
Artificial intelligence and digital tracing will shine an even brighter spotlight on efficiency and transparency in 2024 to protect the future of food.
12 Dec 2023: Finding microplastics with AI: A boon for the food industry?
Researchers have developed a way to use artificial intelligence to help find microplastics more efficiently, which could provide a useful way to find them in food.
5 Dec 2023: Unpacking Coca-Cola’s digital strategy: From AI to next-gen tech
The Coca-Cola Company has been bosting its digital investments and developing its digital capabilities. How is this transforming the company?
23 Nov 2023: Unilever’s first AI lab will focus on forecasting, trends, insights
UK-headquartered Unilever has announced plans to open up its first lab dedicated to AI, where employees will optimise data and insights, as well as explore trends.
6 Oct 2023: Mars, PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, and Givaudan on how AI can improve NPD
Long hours of R&D lie between an idea and a product launch. But AI is helping a range of food majors generate product ideas, conduct market research, and gain insights into the mind of consumers.
20 Sep 2023: WHO AI tool to clampdown on infant formula marketing
The World Health Organization Europe is calling on consumers to use its newly developed artificial intelligence tool in order to clampdown an deregulate the promotion of harmful products targeted at children.
8 Sep 2023: AI-powered plant-based meat: Non-profit boosts extrusion tech for alt protein players
Meet GreenProtein AI: the non-profit leveraging artificial intelligence and advanced machine learning to help innovators improve the texture of their plant-based meat products.
28 Jul 2023: ‘World’s first’ energy drink developed by artificial intelligence
In Hungary, a beverage manufacturer claims to have produced the ‘world’s first’ energy drink completely designed by AI.
25 Jul 2023: How Unilever is using AI and big data to transform its food portfolio
Unilever is tapping into the power of AI and big data biology to optimise its current food portfolio and accelerate new product development.
9 Jul 2023: Artificial intelligence designs soda for Swiss market: ‘We were gripped by AI fever’
It took just two days for Swiss beverage company Vivi Kola to develop the artificially intelligence-designed beverage using ChatGPT, Midjourney and Unreal Engine.
2 Jun 2023: Artificial intelligence: The future of food or the end of humanity?
While some fear AI spells the end of humanity, others are optimistic the technology will optimise food production and achieve ‘what has previously not been possible’.
17 Apr 2023: ChatGPT: Should we be scared?
ChatGPT has many of us intrigued and nervous in equal measure, but Huel co-founder James Collier asks if this tool is any scarier than the current situation with ‘nonsense nutrition content’ touted across social media by pseudoscientists.
28 Mar 2023: ChatGPT and nutrition research: Academics stress the need to disclose use
A group of scientists has published a list of ‘best practices’ when using AI and related tools such as ChatGPT when writing research manuscripts.
2 Mar 2022: Risks of using AI to row our food ‘poorly understood’ and ‘under appreciated’
The use of artificial intelligence in agriculture comes with substantial potential risks for farms, farmers and food security, warns a new risk analysis.
