STORY: This dish tastes just like turtle soup, a delicacy in Chile...
but there is no trace of the endangered green sea turtle on the plate.
A plant-based foot products company in Chile recreated this famous dish using artificial intelligence.
Their aim is to help raise awareness about endangered species while providing AI-enhanced meat alternatives.
[ON AI]
Here in the NotCo lab in Santiago, Culinary Sciences Chief Bernardo Moltedo peruses the shelves that house a variety of plant-derived ingredients.
"We wanted to make an impact through artificial intelligence. We know that the use of AI is controversial, and we have been working on it for several years."
The company creates foods such as hamburgers, milk, mayonnaise or ice cream that simulate the taste and texture of traditional animal-based ingredients.
They say their AI platform Giuseppe analyzes structure of an animal-based food at its molecular level...
and then replicates it using only plants-based ingredients.
"We see it as a challenge and a very capable tool for transmitting what we want to do quickly and solving industry and environmental issues."
Moltedo says the effort isn't necessarily about dealing with all endangered species, but about being able to generate a cultural and environmental impact.
"We can bring this to Latin America and give them a better alternative food through a plant-based approach."
The AI-made turtle meat and the soup aren't for sale at the moment.
But the company plans on holding a virtual class to teach people how to prepare the soup.
The exploitation of sea turtles is prohibited in most countries and they are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species.
