WOOHOO, a restaurant branding itself as “dining in the future,” will open in September in central Dubai, UAE. While the food itself will be prepared by human staff, everything else, including the menu, ambience, and service, will be created by a culinary large-language model called Chef Aiman.
Aiman, a blend of “AI” and “man,” is developed using decades of food science research, molecular composition data, and more than a thousand recipes from various global cooking traditions, according to WOOHOO co-founder Ahmet Oytun Cakir.
AI could help to enhance creativity and sustainability
Although Chef Aiman cannot taste, smell, or physically interact with his dishes as a traditional chef would, the model functions by deconstructing cuisine into fundamental elements such as texture, acidity, and umami. It then recombines these components into unique flavour and ingredient pairings, based on the developers’ design.
These prototypes are subsequently refined by human cooks who taste the combinations and offer guidance, under the leadership of renowned Dubai-based chef Reif Othman.
“Their responses to my suggestions help refine my understanding of what works beyond pure data,” Aiman explained in an interview with the interactive AI model. According to Aiman’s creators, the aim is not to replace the human element in cooking but to enhance it.
“Human cooking will not be replaced, but we believe (Aiman) will elevate the ideas, creativity,” said Oytun Cakir, who is also the chief executive of the hospitality company Gastronaut.
Aiman is created to develop recipes that reuse ingredients commonly discarded by restaurants, such as meat trimmings or fat, he explained. In the long run, WOOHOO’s founders see the potential to license Aiman to restaurants worldwide, helping to cut kitchen waste and enhance sustainability.
AI is increasingly in use across the attractions industry. Earlier this week, Imperial War Museums announced a significant partnership to transcribe and translate over 20,000 hours of IWM’s oral history collection using AI technology.
Meanwhile, Red Sea Global is using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to map, track and predict coral formations, and last year Disney created a new business unit to explore the potential use of AI and other emerging technologies across its movie, television and theme park divisions.
