The New York Times is testing an artificial intelligence feature in its Cooking app designed to adapt recipes, an initiative that has drawn critical reactions from some of its readers. Genevieve Ko, senior editor of NYT Cooking, announced the feature, which can suggest ingredient and kitchen utensil substitutions.
According to the announcement, the tool can also adapt a recipe to any number of servings and, more broadly, “make our recipes fit what a cook needs at that moment.” According to Genevieve Ko, it can also modify recipes based on the pans and tools available.
A detailed example in the article shows a user asking to replace kale with spinach sprouts. The app indicates that, since spinach sprouts wilt faster, they should be added at a later stage in the recipe. Customized recipes remain private: they cannot be published or shared via the app.
The feature is being rolled out gradually, as The New York Times monitors its performance. It is currently available to all Cooking subscribers on the iOS app and is set to be accessible more widely “soon.”
Mixed Reactions
Several readers expressed opposition in the article’s comments section, citing the environmental impact of widespread AI adoption and the effects these tools could have on the user experience. When one user asked if it would be possible to disable the feature, Genevieve Ko replied: “No, not at this time,” clarifying that its use is “entirely optional.”
Another New York Times reader reacted by saying: “Incredibly disappointing to see. I’ve always loved NYT Cooking, and it pains me to see imposed AI win out over what was a wonderful, simple collection of recipes and notes from a wide variety of people.”
A Use Already Present in the App
According to Genevieve Ko, artificial intelligence had already been used in the app to convert recipes expressed in imperial volume measurements to metric weights. Another feature allows for halving or doubling the original number of servings.
Comments under the announcement of the new feature have since been closed. New York Times spokesperson Jordan Cohen told The Verge that this is standard practice: “Comments on this article remained open for four days, and Cooking editors took care to answer questions, address concerns, and engage directly with readers.” He adds that closing comments on older articles allows moderators to focus on new discussions, and that “many members of the Cooking community” are already trying the tool on the iOS app, reporting “good results.”
