Take electronics giant Sony. Add a hint of Franయిois Charter, gastronomy and artificial intelligence (AI). According to the creator of Quebec sommelier and aromatic harmony you get the “crazy object”. Since 2018, he has been creating artificial intelligence that chefs can use to enhance and create new culinary combinations.
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Having lived in Barcelona for six years and returning to Quebec this month for the first time in three years, Mr. Chartreuse will present “Sony AI Gastronomy” at the E-AI launch event next Tuesday afternoon.
With more than 400 people collaborating on Sony and Francois Charter being appointed Special Adviser, this amazing project is being prepared without much publicity. It is still in its infancy and has recently entered its second phase, where a user-friendly application can be displayed. “It’s Sony: when they’ve ready, they push the media machine,” Mr. Chartier explained. I think chefs will climb. ⁇
Smells, seasons and colors
Basically, there was an opportunity meeting in 2017 between Sony executives who want to invest in artificial intelligence projects and the Quebec sommelier in Barcelona. “My specialty is not AI, it smells,” he explained. We do not know much about it, but Sony already has a grip on gastronomy: they have been agents of Chef Joel Robuchon for 25 years. ⁇
Photo provided by Franకోois Charter
Franకోois Chartier, Somilier, Author and Special Adviser on the Sony AI Gastronomy Project
What they are saying is that, basically, they are there to help artists in music, movies, video games. And chefs, gastronomy people, they are artists.
Franకోois Charter
One thing leads to another, we decided to include in a huge database all the aesthetics of atomic melody developed in the Franకోois Chartier books. The project was showcased at the first International Science & Cooking Congress in Barcelona in 2019, “this city has become the capital of gastronomy” thanks to the creativity of its chefs. He also conducts a series of videoconference interviews with important people and participates in trials of this new opportunity.
Beyond molecular harmonies, the database is enriched with millions of other pieces of information, Mr. Chartier states. “It’s even bigger: we’ve added geolocation, season, colors, texture, new styles, styles from Bocus to your grandmother through the local bistro. ⁇
After the epidemic
This AI, he concludes, “is like a sub-chief, but at a higher level, capable of ‘challenging’ the creator.” Some examples: She was asked to create a dish from soy sauce, which refers to her chocolate. “The chef changed his mind and wanted to work with chocolate. He wanted a crunch. There was a dialogue.”
Who knew other than Franకోois Chartier and his AI that nori seaweed and raspberries share the same aromatic molecules? “However, there is no recipe that combines the two. If we combine them, 1 + 1 = 3! ⁇
AI does not replace the cook, he mentions, but most of all it serves to inspire him, to suggest new ways that he can follow or avoid at his convenience. He believes it will come at the right time when the two-year epidemic has weakened the sector, he noted in twenty interviews. Zoom in With top chefs – and two wine and sage producers.
“We want to capture the vulnerability they had at the time, to see how new technologies can help them be more creative and get out of depression.”
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