The New York Times has added an AI tool to its Cooking app that lets subscribers change recipes, and a lot of its readers wish it hadn't. In a column announcing the feature, NYT Cooking senior editor and columnist Genevieve Ko said the tool lets cooks apply modifications to Times recipes. Ingredient substitutions are the most common request so far.

Is the NYT Cooking AI tool available to everyone?

The tool is available now to all Cooking subscribers on the iOS app. The Times is rolling it out gradually to see how it performs, including whether it works fast enough, and to learn how people use it. The company plans to make it available more broadly soon. The Times had already added AI features that convert volume-based and weight-based measurements and scale recipes up or down to serve more or fewer people. The new feature goes further by handling substitutions.

How does the NYT Cooking AI substitution tool work?

Ko offered an example. Say you're making braised white beans and greens with parmesan, and you're out of chard but have spinach. Chard holds up under cooking, while spinach wilts quickly. The AI tool can account for that difference, such as suggesting that the spinach go into the pot later than the chard would.

Ko wrote that Cooking staffers “spent countless hours evaluating sample after sample to get the chatbot answers to closely align with how we would answer as culinary experts.” She said the team “applied the same rigor as we do to editing, grounded in Times standards.” She also acknowledged that AI features are likely to draw objections from a Times audience. Her column addresses concerns ranging from “the impact of data centers” to “the concentration of power among A.I. companies” and “the risk of A.I. escaping our control.” She framed the feature as a way to preserve “the tactile physical pleasure of cooking” and the experience of putting a “very real, very human creation” on the table.

Readers were not persuaded. A reporter who scraped the 171 comments on the announcement, excluding 12 left by Times staffers, asked an AI model to run a sentiment analysis. It found that about 77 percent of reader comments were negative about the new features, against 14 percent positive. The rest were neutral or mixed.

Why are readers pushing back on the NYT Cooking AI feature?

The most common complaints were that the feature wasn’t needed, that AI harms the environment, and that AI has no place in a subscription the readers pay for. One reader, Susan from New Jersey, wrote, “The internet is full of AI cooking content. I pay you because I prefer mine done by people.” Another, Ian from Los Angeles, said the decision “misses the mark by such a wide margin it’s baffling.” Dozens of commenters asked for a way to turn the feature off. Ko responded, “No, not at this time,” but added that “this feature is completely optional to use.”

Many commenters said cooking is supposed to involve difficulty and that working through problems yourself is the point. Michael King from Brooklyn wrote that “Anyone using AI for cooking has no sense of taste and no desire to work out the intricacies of cooking and baking.” BJ from North Carolina asked, “So, you’re telling me that I’m too stupid to figure it out on my own?”

A small group of commenters praised the feature, mostly for dietary changes. Anne Wagner from Kansas City said she loved the tool because it “quickly (and so far) accurately converts recipes to gluten free.” Andy from San Francisco took a practical view. “I don’t cook for stress relief,” he said. “I cook to put dinner on the table. Anything that makes the process a little faster or smoother is welcome.”

Cet article a été rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA.
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