Artificial intelligence (AI) helps people with everyday tasks we take for granted. For example, it will help you find your way around cities, write speeches, organize your day, and find a movie to watch.
Now AI is infiltrating the beer biz. Victoria’s Whistle Buoy Brewing recently used ChatGPT – an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI – to write a beer recipe for a hazy pale ale.
Whistle Buoy Brewing partner Isaiah Archer told Black Press Media they were experimenting with AI to help with product descriptions and social media posts. Then the beer brewers thought, why not ask the chatbot to create a new beer recipe?
With the magic of machine learning and computer algorithms, AI can understand, analyze, learn from data, and make decisions based on past responses and behaviour.
Kind of like humans. Or rather, a lot like humans.
Archer said they had to do some back-and-forth with AI to tweak the recipe, but that it was fast and easy.
When they asked the chatbot to make a recipe for a “fluffy and tropical” beer, it generated a recipe with a mix of hops that hit the mark.
“It was certainly surprising how quick and how accurate it was,” he said. “You have to be able to use your own reasoning and logic and communicate with it like any person, that’s important to remember.”
In other words, you have to be comfortable having human-like conversations with a machine.
While people may hesitate to talk to a machine, they apparently don’t mind drinking its brew. The AI-hatched beverage, the aptly-named Robo Beer, has become one of the brewery’s stronger sellers.
The customer response has been mostly positive. But not surprisingly, some folks question how “craft” the beer can be if AI is behind it.
“We’re not saying it’s good or bad, but the beer that it told us to produce tastes solid,” Archer said.
Some people are saying that AI tools could change everything. We’re skeptical of these latest Jetson-like predictions, but it turns out it can whip up some favourite beers.
