Movie Review – Bicentennial Man (Can Robotic Chefs Replace Humans?)

This article explores whether robots can mimic human culinary abilities and be creative in their cooking, and whether robot chefs could replace human chefs in the future. It discusses the possibility of robots using a variety of sensors to recognize flavors and adjust their cooking to suit individual moods.

 

At my elementary school, we used to have a “draw the future in 20 years” contest on science day. My friends and I’ve always had a favorite entry: “A pill that you could take and not feel hungry for the rest of the day. We imagined that in the future, we would be able to live on a pill that contained all the nutrients and we would never be hungry. However, the movie Bicentennial Man portrays humans as still eating and enjoying food in the future, which makes the future seem pretty dreary because we think, “How will we have fun without eating any delicious food?” The movie follows the story of Andrew, an android with emotions and creative abilities, as he becomes a human, and is set 200 years in the future, from 2005 to 2205. In the movie, Andrew eats toast and bacon and marvels at their flavor and texture thanks to his newly implanted artificial organs in 2180. This suggests that humans will still be eating food in 200 years. This is because food is not just a means of sustaining life, but an important hedonic activity that gives us pleasure and satisfaction. But will humans still be cooking in the future, or will chef robots be cooking for us?
In the movie, Andrew serves his owner’s family grilled steak and vegetables for dinner and waffles with fruit and maple syrup for breakfast. The owner, Richard, is initially unfamiliar with the robot’s cooking, but after taking a piece of steak and savoring it slowly, he exclaims, “Excellent! Andrew’s cooking impressed Richard and his family, and he cooked their meals for decades afterward. But could a robot cook something so satisfying to the human body and mind in real life? Can they replace our moms, wives, and husbands? Many people think that only humans can cook properly because it requires a combination of skills, because you need to be able to taste the flavors, and because cooking is a creative activity. However, with the right combination of advances in science and technology, robots will be able to cook.
When we cook, we use our eyes, taste, smell, feel with our hands, and sense heat and moisture. All of these activities combine to create safe, nutritious, and delicious food. But can robots perform these processes that are so natural to humans? Yes, if you give them the right skills. For example, the human sensory organs that identify the type and condition of ingredients can be replaced with multiple sensors. In the movie, Andrew’s ocular sensors allow him to not only see what an object looks like, but also analyze its characteristics. Using the eye sensor, he can read the shape and color of an ingredient, match it to its data, and determine its identity. Next, analytical sensors will be used to determine freshness and quality. This process is essential as it relates to food safety. Analytical sensors will analyze the physicochemical composition of substances in food, analyze microorganisms, analyze nutritional content, and more.
Meanwhile, the flexible and delicate movements of humans handling food can be addressed by mimicking human joints and muscles. In the movie, Andrew’s hands are very large and he has only one knuckle on each finger, so it’s a mystery how he was able to cook. He even drops and breaks the “glass doll” given to him by the “little lady” because he can’t even move his hands. However, future cooking robots will have a similar structure to human hands. They will have fingers that can bend and curl at different angles and arms that can rotate freely to perform a variety of cooking tasks. They will also be able to measure the temperature and humidity of the room to keep the cooking environment comfortable, and they will be able to adjust their movement to suit the kitchen environment.

 

 

However, even if a robot has all these features, it is not enough to be a chef. The most important thing in cooking is taste. Delicious food enriches people’s lives. So, can robots create flavors that impress people? Many people might think that robots can’t make delicious food because they can’t taste. However, robots can be made to taste. When humans eat food, flavoring substances bind to receptors on the tongue and send signals to the brain, which synthesizes these signals and other information about the food to perceive taste. This process can be replicated in robots by attaching receptors that mimic the tongue and allowing them to synthesize signals to perceive flavors. This is how Andrew would have experienced a new world of flavors.
On the other hand, for a robot to perceive flavors like a human, there are many factors to consider, including temperature, mood, and food-related memories. Temperature can be factored into the machine’s design, but emotions and memories are more complicated. Once we have enough data on how our bodies change when we’re in a certain mood, we can create an algorithm and apply it to a robot, which will then be able to adjust its recipes to match that mood. Of course, there are individual differences in how our tastes change based on mood, but if you tell a robot that you tend to prefer salty and spicy foods when you’re stressed, for example, it will be able to adjust the spiciness of your food to match. This would be a practical adjustment, as human chefs often don’t have a perfect read on the other person’s mood. The robot can also be fed any recipe and serve the same flavor at any time. For example, it’s hard not to be impressed by a robot that makes your mom’s miso stew exactly the same way.
With these features and programs that mimic humans, robots can create delicious dishes. But what’s the difference between a robot-cooked meal and a simple microwave meal? You could argue that the robot is just following a program, which is not cooking. Cooking is considered an art form that involves creativity and skill to bring out the natural flavors of ingredients or create harmony. So, can robots be creative? Yes, if they are equipped with artificial intelligence. Even if it’s not a strong AI, it’s still possible for a weak AI that makes judgments based on predetermined rules. Adjusting flavors based on a person’s mood and state would fall into the category of weak AI. Furthermore, robots can create new flavor combinations based on their databases, taking into account weather information, the mood and state of the eater, etc. This is similar to the human creative process. In this way, robot-created dishes can be seen as the result of creative activity in a broad sense.
Of course, a chef robot will never be exactly the same as a human chef. However, they can create human-like dishes with the help of eye sensors, analytical sensors, and delicate robotic arms and hands. In addition, their ability to detect and adjust flavors allows them to create food that suits people’s tastes, and their vast database allows them to create new combinations of dishes. So, we can say that robots can cook. Although robots are not a perfect replacement for humans, they have many advantages, such as being able to objectively control the safety of food and use risky recipes without burns or injuries. In addition, robots can prepare any dish without hassle and always maintain a consistent flavor.
With the state of modern technology, robot chefs aren’t a thing of the distant future. They can be developed by combining different functions. At first, they might make errors, but as they improve and add features, they’ll evolve rapidly. Robots won’t just be machines like microwaves, they’ll be chefs that can adapt to the situation and create new dishes. People will feel full, satisfied, and delighted by the food they eat.