Can AI Replace Mixologists? Japan Is About to Find Out
IBM Japan helped local brewing company Sapporo develop an artificial intelligence to speed up the development of new drinks, and in particular, new alcoholic, ready-to-drink cocktails.
As Nikkei Asia reports(Opens in a new window), these so-called chūhai(Opens in a new window) canned beverages are very popular in Japan and the market has doubled in size for them over the past decade. Traditionally, chūhai is flavored with lemon, but demand has seen the flavor combinations explode to include everything from lime, grapefruit, apple, orange, and peach, to more extravagant flavors such as strawberry cream and cream soda.
Sapporo is using the AI to help quickly develop new flavor combinations for different periods of the year. It has access to the details of 170 existing Sapporo products, 1,200 formulations, 700 ingredients, and can be told up to 10 flavor descriptions to help guide the new drink creation process.
Using all that information, the AI sets about producing 100 different options, which it marks on a scale of 100 based on how close it believes they are to the initial flavor description. It's then up to Sapporo if any of them meet the brief and taste good enough to mass produce. Without the AI, this process currently takes up to six months, but Sapporo believes that can be cut to just two months assuming the AI works as intended.
Consumers in Japan will soon get to find out how good (or bad) this AI is. Sapporo is planning to launch its first ready-to-drink cocktail created by the AI this summer, but hasn't revealed what the flavor is yet.
Sapporo is also the oldest brand of beer in Japan (first brewed in 1876). Its main rival, Kirin Holdings, is also using AI to develop new drinks, but with a focus on beers. With
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