Automatic generator of vegan foods (or almost): the Chilean start-up NotCo has patented the first artificial intelligence capable of proposing food formulas without the use of animal derivatives. And he called it Giuseppe, like Giuseppe Arciboldo, the Mannerist painter who often added fruit to his works.
Create new foods, perhaps with ingredients that are still unknown but very good and very healthy. But above all, not derived from animals. The mission of Giuseppe, NotCo's artificial intelligence, is precisely this: to teach us to eat vegan.
NotCo was born three and a half years ago and has recently reached the symbolic valuation of 1 billion dollars. It is a play on words (but also a reality) that produces “non-foods”: non-mayonnaise, non-milk, non-ice cream, to which non-meat will soon be added. Very soon, because the US patent office recently granted recognition to the technique for creating foods without using meat or other animal derivatives.
“When we found out that eliminate animals from food production would have protected the planet - we read on the company's website - the solution was simple: create an algorithm, which we called Giuseppe, that could learn infinite combinations of plants to replicate animal products, make them sustainable and taste even better. Now, for the good of the planet, we reinvent the food industry: one delicious bite at a time ”.
The algorithm works with a mechanism known to many artificial intelligences currently used, and which increase visibly, that is machine learning: Giuseppe "learns" therefore, and then teaches us, to invent vegan foods, trying to imitate those currently on the market.
© United States Patent and Trademark Office
"Today, many negative consequences of the use of animals in the food industry are known, such as deforestation, pollution, human health conditions and allergies, among others - write the authors in the background of the patent - On the contrary, a plant-based diet is associated with a better health and well-being and reduces the risk of disease. A plant-based diet is good not only for our health, but also to the health of the Earth".
It is known, in fact, that the massive consumption of food derivatives is causing many problems to the environment and to our own health. The growing demand for animal foods translates into multiplication of intensive farming, where suffering reigns for animals and which become real ecological bombs.
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"Research has shown that the production of plant-based food generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions and requires less energy, water and land than the production of food of animal origin - continue the authors - There are plant alternatives to food of animal origin [... ] However these do not match the taste and texture of the meat. Consequently it is necessary improve techniques to mimic a target food, combining nutritional and sensory characteristics as much as possible ".
It is not even the first time that research groups have challenged us in this challenge. There synthetic meat, for example, it has already been tested for some time. But many attempts to develop new foods rely on long and imprecise manual laboratory work, in which different ingredients are combined and tested in different ways. These approaches are inefficient, take a long time to develop a single successful food formula, and waste physical resources. And among other things, they often generate very expensive products, therefore difficult to spend on a large scale.
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That is why the use of artificial intelligence, at least as a first screening.
"With our brilliant AI, Giuseppe, let's reinvent food that we love to eat, using plants to replicate products of animal origin and make them even tastier. We are not here to start a revolution. This is a revelation. We are here to change everyday life. For everyone. Everywhere. One delicious inexpensive bite at a time ”.
The challenge will be to create food that tastes the same as that produced by animals but without their exploitation and with comparable costs.
“We call all food lovers and the food industry alike… Let's do it together to help our planet. Ask yourself why. And repeat after us, Why Not ".
It is not a revolution in progress, it is true, but it could be the first step for a huge change. But this must be done by everyone, absolutely everyone, together. Provided that everyone feels the need.
Sources of reference: NotCo / United States Patent and Trademark Office
Read also:
- Is red meat bad or not? Here's how much to eat at most according to the AIRC
- Halve the consumption of meat and dairy products by 2050: this is the only way to save the climate (PETITION)
