You put the food, I'll take care of the rest. If that phrase is pronounced by an acquaintance or relative, perfect, but if the oven at home tells you, it is a sign that artificial intelligence has reached a new milestone in the progressive introduction into our lives. The kitchen is one of the latest areas that AI has reached. The IFA consumer electronics fair, which is held from September 1 to 5 in Berlin, shows a clear trend among appliance manufacturers so that the less "cookies" delegate a good part of the process of preparing food to the machines.
A photograph is enough in the case of Haier's most advanced oven, Chef@Home, for the machine to recognize the food and suggest a suitable cooking program that can have up to seven degrees of finish. The image must not be taken externally. It is enough to put the food inside the oven, so that its internal camera and the AI recognize what it is and suggest a way to cook it. It is the paradise of those who always mess with the degrees and the weather to roast a chicken or a fish. At the moment, it has 350 recipes. But increasing the catalog only depends on updates.
The Haier oven does not have a transparent glass on the outside. Instead, it has a screen that doubles as a media center. Its camera is capable of showing what the inside of the oven looks like in a traditional way, but it can also be a kind of computer with other functions. The AI recognizes not only the food, but also takes factors such as size into account when setting the optimal cooking parameters.
The key to this new batch (forgive the redundancy) of household appliances with AI, practically widespread among the brands with the most resources on the market, is its connection with other devices. The fridge can suggest a recipe and pass it to the oven. The Chinese Midea refrigerator, for example, sends the recipe corresponding to what the user has extracted to its connected appliances, be it an oven, electric cooker or air fryer, and configures them automatically. Although these functions are still somewhat in their infancy, the key is to store user preferences. Pattern recognition is the strength of AI.
Samsung has presented in Berlin a complete line of AI for its Bespoke appliances, which, in the case of the kitchen, also identifies the food that is placed in the oven using a camera. The system learns what the user usually does until it recommends the two recipes that he uses the most on each occasion. Another key is to use apps that coordinate what the user does both at home and remotely. At the moment, all these AI developments imply that the user has all the devices of the same brand to benefit from his advances. The approval is a long-term battle, but the main manufacturers are already working so that all these appliances are interoperable. It will be essential if they want to convince users about this technology.
The introduction of AI in household appliances will also make life easier for those who never know which programs to use with which type of clothing. The new smart washing machines detect the fabrics that are put into the drum and, depending on the manufacturer, are capable of analyzing other variables, such as the degree of dirt, the pH of the water, and the weight, with which they can choose the most suitable program. optimal every time. Several models of washers and dryers are now interconnected: the first notifies the second what type of clothes it will have to dry. To some, these features may seem impractical. For others, it is little short of magic.
