Food kiosk photo by Onesix on unsplash.com.

Artificial intelligence (AI) finds its way into almost every aspect of Americans’ lives. At the end of February, there was a minor scandal regarding fast food burger giant Wendy’s tests with software-generated dynamic pricing in its restaurants starting as soon as 2025.

In a subsequent statement, Wendy’s spokespersons debunked the story, claiming they would not test dynamic pricing. The burger chain did admit they are actively developing AI.

In fact, in December 2023, Wendy’s announced it was rolling out Wendy’s FreshAI. The innovation utilizes generative AI to adapt to changes in real time, making drive-thrus more productive and accurate.

And that’s just the tip of the French fry. Members of the food industry run AI experiments and test innovations to benefit consumers, from production to shipping, storage, and even safety.

Food safety
Food safety starts with proper food handling and storage. Object detection algorithms, like You Only Look Once version 4 (YOLOv4), can detect Escherichia coli, better known as E. coli, in as little as three hours, sharply shortening foodborne virus detection time. Faster detection of E. coli, a bacteria sometimes found in romaine lettuce and spinach, allows hasty produce removal from supermarket shelves, stifling potential infection.

YOLO can even differentiate between E. coli and seven other food-bacterial species, including Salmonella, with 94% accuracy.

Shipping
GPS, like Garmin, revolutionized route optimization. Now, predictive AI can forecast vehicle maintenance, reducing costly breakdowns. Additionally, AI systems can track shipments in real-time. Pertinent data for perishable goods, like humidity, temperature, and location, are recorded and tracked, ensuring food safety during transit.

Shopping
AI-powered shopping carts are a growing grocery store commodity. The smart carts transform the grocery shopping experience and allow consumers to bypass checkout lanes altogether. Each cart bears a small, affixed computer capable of recognizing consumers’ picks. The tool automatically recognizes the addition to the cart via multiple sensors and cameras. Once finished, consumers can check out at their cart with credit or bank cards, eliminating the need for a traditional checkout lane.

Dining out
Automation bolsters order and process accuracy and reduces employee workload for many restaurants, from fast food chains to high-end dining experiences. AI-powered chatbots can assist consumers and front-of-house restaurant staff. Their capabilities range from suggesting side dishes to recording reservations.

Domino’s Pizza uses a chatbot on Facebook Messenger to take orders and provide order updates. Restaurants use AI systems to analyze customer data; such analysis offers personalized recommendations and suggests promotions and deals.

Growing and production
AI-powered drones help farmers with crop planting and maintenance, monitoring crops, and identifying problems before they start. Drones can apply needed treatments with greater accuracy than conventional farming equipment. According to Arthur Erickson, Chief Executive Officer of Hyl.io, the technology offers advanced precision in the field and lower prices than traditional farming equipment. Similar advancements could lead to sustainable farming practices and improved crop yields.

Reducing food waste
According to the World Economic Forum, every man, woman, and child throws out 74 kg (163 pounds) of food annually, the equivalent of one-third of the world’s total food production. Wasteless, an Israeli-based company, utilizes AI and special bar codes to reduce the cost of perishables at the consumer level as they approach their end-of-life date, enticing consumers to purchase them at the reduced price.

Smart packaging
New smart packaging efforts — QR codes, sensors, and tags — prolong shelf life, promote food safety, and reduce food waste. Near-field communication (NFC) tags track the exact path products take to get to consumers. Shoppers stay abreast of their food’s journey from farm to store shelves to home pantries.

Robotic chefs
Though Rosie from The Jetsons hasn’t made it to restaurant kitchens yet, algorithms like YOLO and Open Pose allow automated chefs to “learn” recipes. An Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) study reports that automated chefs accurately make a dish 93% of the time.

The automated chefs acquired preparation information by watching human chefs create 16 different salads. Experts eventually expect these automated chefs to learn food preparation knowledge from YouTube videos.

Smart kitchen appliances
Although “smart” appliances have long been professional and home kitchen staples, the technology continues to improve. Some LG and Samsung models record shopping lists and reduce food waste with recipe recommendations based on in-house ingredients.

Some smart ranges allow users to adjust cook times and temperatures via smartphone integration. Apps enable users to toggle burners and ovens on and off, shift cooking temps, and change cook times. Some models have cameras capable of detecting when cooking is completed. Many smart ovens and ranges have temperature probes that, when placed in a roast, alert the cook when the meat comes to temperature.

These innovative changes in smart appliances integrate AI into everyday life to simplify and enrich home cooking experiences.

AI paves the way for the future
The industry’s embrace of AI shows a pivotal step towards a more sustainable, safe, and customer-oriented model. The advancements we’re witnessing today are just the beginning as AI continues to improve how we grow, ship, shop for, and consume food.

This modern venture into the AI-enhanced food industry is about making food management more efficient and increasing the safety and awareness of consumers around the globe.

The era of AI in food is here, reshaping our world in ways we’re just beginning to understand.

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This article was produced by Media Decision and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.