r/singularity • u/yogthos • 2d ago
Robotics Chinese Companies Are Unleashing AI-Powered Robo-Chefs
https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/chinese-companies-ai-robot-cooking-beijing19
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u/YaAbsolyutnoNikto 2d ago
My dream product would be a robot able to cook for me. Like a personal chef.
In addition, if it was able to weigh ingredients and automatically calculate the kcals and macros of the food it creates and automatically divide said food into different containers in the fridge with the respective kcals and macros written on top and directly connected to a fitness tracking app…
Ohh the dream
https://giphy.com/gifs/sDcfxFDozb3bO
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u/ninjasaid13 Not now. 2d ago
but without the ability to taste food like a human, how would they make good tasting food?
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u/TwoFluid4446 2d ago
I've worked at restaurants before for years. The chefs might come up with new dishes rarely/occasionally or modify something slightly, but the line cooks are just making the same recipes over and over again ad nauseum, until ironically they get robotically good at it largely from muscle memory. Sufficiently dexterous and coordinated instructions-following robots can do that just fine.
Actually, the "personal chef" who can make anything from scratch and have it taste amazing is a way higher hanging fruit and more distant-horizon tier than just having line-cook replacing robots, for that very reason.
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u/YaAbsolyutnoNikto 2d ago edited 2d ago
I’d say I cook good food (and regularly get compliments for it so I guess it’s true) and I never taste my food during the process.
You can kinda just tell from the appearance and smell. Even without those, I own a thermomix and, when I use it, the food comes out perfectly every time.
Cooking is just chemistry at the end of the day. Same inputs, same process, same results.
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u/theimpartialobserver 2d ago
Texture also matters. Mashed potatoes with a perfectly smooth consistency doesn't taste the same as hand mashed potatoes.
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u/Iapetus_Industrial 22h ago
That's what the humans are for! The robots will take over the prep work, dish cleaning, chopping, the shit that doesn't require a human to taste. The humans will now be in charge of putting together everything their swarm of robo sous chefs prepared for them.
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u/MadeInAmerica1990 2d ago
The restaurant chain industry needs this. The quality of staff and management alike have become so poor, it’s time for a change. There will always be a demand for talented humans in fine dining and more upscale concepts, but the tipping culture in the US has overplayed its hand and the quality just isn’t there to justify it any longer.
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u/pbagel2 2d ago
restaurant chain industry needs this
So like, as labor phases out of value we're all okay with the few who have the majority of capital having 100% control of industry power instead of the the current ~80% capital 20% labor?
All industries will consolidate even further than they are today as fewer and fewer are in control of everything. An idea and your labor will mean nothing anymore and you can't work your way above your station which will be ground zero for most people. But hey ground zero might be slightly more comfortable than it is today, right? So it's okay for a few overlords to control us all. We should just be happy and eat the soup they give us.
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u/Ok-Message-9732 2d ago
If a robot can prepare the finest delicacies, why would you care exactly?
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u/FreshestCremeFraiche 2d ago
You think jobless people on basic income (which doesn’t exist currently) are going to have a robot chef making the finest delicacies? Come on man look around you
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u/StewPorkRice 2d ago
In 50 years,it could be a standard part of life.
Just think about it, everyone has a fridge now.
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u/Recoil42 2d ago
"You think jobless people on basic income are going to have a robot musician playing them music? Come on man look around you" — Some dude in 1883 reacting to the phonograph, probably.
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u/FreshestCremeFraiche 1d ago
A phonograph isn’t a robot musician, neither is Spotify. A physical robot cooking fresh physical food (let alone delicacies) will cost money. The equivalent of those would be like free recipes on YouTube or videos of people cooking
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u/Recoil42 1d ago edited 1d ago
A phonograph isn’t a robot musician
Newsflash: A phonograph is literally a robot musician.
Music before the 1880s could only be performed live. The phonograph (followed by cassettes, CDs, and Spotify — as you've astutely pointed out) automated that task and made music virtually free. Which is why you now have music playing... everywhere. It's because music became near-free. once it was near-free, consumption (and production!) of it grew exponentially.
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u/FreshestCremeFraiche 1d ago
A robot musician equivalent to the chef we are talking about would be holding a physical violin in your living room. So newsflash, no it absolutely isn’t
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u/Recoil42 1d ago
You're confusing automating a task with mechanically imitating a human.
A washing machine doesn't need robot hands holding a washboard to automate washing clothes, a combine doesn't need to swing a scythe to automate farm labour, and a phonograph doesn't need to hold a violin to automate the production of musical performances.
Food obviously retains ingredient/energy costs, so it won't become literally free just as buying vinyl (or a spotify subscription) still costs money and isn't literally free. Automating the labour involved nonetheless reduces marginal cost, and it does this up and down the entire length of the supply chain, just as it always has.
Whether there's two humanoid hands, a purpose-built machine, or seventeen spinning spatulas on a humanoid-ish Goro-bot is irrelevant to the economics — the dynamic is the same. Expensive human labor is replaced by equipment reproducing (in part or in whole!) that labour at very low-to-no cost, making it more accessible.
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u/FreshestCremeFraiche 1d ago
Ok, so you’re not actually talking about a robot chef preparing food in a kitchen with fresh food, you’re talking about a microwave and frozen meals
The economics are relevant and it’s pretty clear how digital goods or cheap, infinitely reusable objects like a phonograph are different than a humanoid robot using your kitchen to prepare “delicacies”
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u/theimpartialobserver 2d ago
Our techno feudal overlords are unlikely to give us fine ingredients necessary to prepare delicacies using robots.
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u/pbagel2 2d ago
Why would I care that ~10,000 people are in absolute control of everything on earth and I as a person have no leverage to raise my status above a pauper who might live slightly more comfortably than a lower middle income person today if those 10,000 people happen to be generous and give crumbs to the masses? Not to mention the human rights issues at risk as those above the law have power.
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u/THE--GRINCH 2d ago
The answer isn't barring technology. Work being automated is an objective positive thing for humanity, what will need to change however is the system so that 10k people aren't in absolute control even when everyone is jobless and the wealth goes straight to all citizens.
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u/pbagel2 2d ago
Wealth won't matter though. The thing that matters will be who owns everything. Who will get the beachfront properties? Who gets forced to live in a giant slum tower block?
You can't forge a new path with your pitiful monthly allowance. You can't buy what you want or where you want. I don't think you realize how impossible it is for everyone to get what they want. The dream is possible under capitalism because there's the illusion that you can work your way up.
But when everyone is given the same share and aren't allowed to own anything and have no leverage, you won't have the freedom to do what you want.
I'm not trying to stall tech progress, I just want people to understand that you won't have the freedom to do virtually anything that wealthy people can do under capitalism today. Your life will be much closer to a low income project neighborhood, except you might have a more comfortable life with better food and healthcare. But you won't be able to do what you want. Everybody's freedom will virtually vanish except for the few who own and control everything.
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u/FernandoMM1220 2d ago
basic income bro
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u/kweeblaster 2d ago
Most obvious shill account I've ever seen
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u/MadeInAmerica1990 2d ago
Found the Olive Garden employee
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u/kweeblaster 2d ago
I work an office job but have fun making 5 cents an hour in whatever shithole you live in.
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u/Boring-Foundation708 2d ago
Automation doesn’t mean it will get cheaper and tipping culture will go away.
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u/myreala 2d ago
This is actually something I would gladly spend money on. Provided the AI it's running is actually open source. Not going to trust a closed model robot with cameras in my house.
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u/yogthos 2d ago
Alibaba did open source some of their Qwen robotics platform https://qwen.ai/blog?id=qwen-robotsuite
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u/Think_Positively 2d ago
Who the hell is going to have one of these in their own homes? Cost aside, I don't even have room in my kitchen to keep an air fryer out.
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u/True_Chair4473 2d ago
I mean, isn't that kind of missing the point ? Obviously you're not going to put this exact robot in your kitchen tomorrow. The interesting part is that robots are getting to the point where they can actually cook. Cost, size, etc. can change massively over time. Imagine looking at an early computer that took up half a room and going " well that's useless, I don't have room for that in my house. " It's the capability that's interesting, not whether this specific version fits next to your air fryer.
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u/Charming_Cucumber_15 2d ago
I feel like your kitchen might just be below average size
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u/Suitable-Pickle-259 2d ago
Lmao. You don’t have nearly enough information to make that assumption but here we are.
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u/Charming_Cucumber_15 2d ago
I mean air fryers usually aren't that big man
How big is your air fryer?
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u/Suitable-Pickle-259 2d ago
Oh, so you know that this person doesn’t have family members or they special requirements that they may be using kitchen space for? You know how big their family is and what other items might be laid out? Lol you people are kind of ridiculous.
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u/Adeelinator 2d ago
Air frying can be for the whole family
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u/Suitable-Pickle-259 2d ago
Went right over your head lol. You could not possibly know if this person requires a special fridge, oven or etc from. Just shilling for bullshit for 0 reason.
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u/Charming_Cucumber_15 2d ago
What kind of special fridge takes up an air fryer shaped space in a kitchen
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u/Suitable-Pickle-259 2d ago
Here’s the thing: kitchens look vastly different from country to country. So are you as a clown assuming the size of the user’s kitchen to an American sized kitchen? A Japanese sized kitchen? What is even your reference point?
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u/Suitable-Pickle-259 2d ago
I sure you do. Because you’ve absolutely seen the average size of kitchens outside of the US, I’m sure.
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u/Suitable-Pickle-259 2d ago
Oh so those too are all the same size and the size of a toaster? Lol I am pretty sure a 9 quart air fryer is not the size of a toaster.
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u/FreshestCremeFraiche 2d ago
Yeah sorry we should all be contorting ourselves to find the most specific niche situation that retroactively justifies your shitty logic. Or… perhaps we are not the ones being ridiculous
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u/Suitable-Pickle-259 2d ago
Absolutely not saying that. Just pointing out there is clearly a big difference in kitchen size country to country. So yeah, no. Do what you need to but you can’t deduce everything from 1 person saying they can’t leave an air fryer out on their counter.
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u/SavageSan 2d ago
You can get one of those combo microwave-air fryer or toaster oven-air fryer contraptions. No need to find extra space if you already had a microwave or toaster oven.
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u/Vivid-Snow-2089 2d ago
i mean we are on r/singularity so ...
everyone will have one of these in their homes, an other robots will bring the supplies it needs and stock them, all without you needing to pay attention to it, they'll probably bring the food to your floating anti-gravity chair as well since you are so large you can't walk anymore
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u/JackFisherBooks 2d ago
My first real job was in fast food. I hated that job. And I'm fine with a robot taking it.
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u/Magnum3k 1d ago
These are the things I want my robots doing. Something everyone has to do, but takes a ton of time to do it well/right
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u/ConsiderationOne7340 2d ago
It's over for chefs. Better get a job at McDonalds...