For iOS users, Botatouille is a chatbot that allows users to interact in real time and answer questions about recipes, cook times, and kitchen tips, per BuzzFeed
Need inspiration on how to cook pasta perfectly al dente or need a date night clutch recipe? Botatouille might be able to help.
Botatouille is included in BuzzFeed’s Tasty app, available now for iOS users. It’s a chatbot that allows users to interact with in real-time and answer questions about recipes, cooking times, and kitchen tips. For the time being, there is no additional monthly fee for using Botatouille.
Although the trend is changing at BuzzFeed, Tasty remains one of BuzzFeed’s bright spots with over 1 billion cross-platform views per month. It was the Tasty brand that pioneered the concept of viral cooking tutorial videos, which are now a video genre in their own right and can be found on platforms like TikTok.
For iOS users, Botatouille is a chatbot that allows users to interact with in real-time and answer questions about recipes, cooking times, and kitchen tips. There is no additional monthly fee to use Botatouille – for now.BuzzFeed
According to BuzzFeed, the bot combines internal machine learning systems with OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology. But what is the difference between ChatGPT and Botatouille? Botatouille is trained to send out recommendations from BuzzFeed’s own food editorial team and recipe library. Because Tasty caters to younger groups like Millennials and Gen Z, the responses tend to be more interesting than ChatGPT’s.
For example, when I asked ChatGPT to create good one-pot recipes for me, I got pretty standard suggestions, including a one-pot pasta with spinach and tomato, one-pot chicken and rice, and one-pot chili.
Botatouille, on the other hand, suggested a one-pot chicken fajita pasta, one-pot chicken and mushroom pasta, and one-pot basil pasta. Botatouille offered more variety in the ingredients used, as well as short videos on how to prepare the recipes.
Jonah Peretti, CEO of BuzzFeed, isn’t afraid to lay out his company’s ambitions in the field of generative AI.
Earlier this year, Peretti committed to using OpenAI’s GPT tools to “enhance” and “personalize” its content. The company was already using GPT not only to personalize its popular quizzes, but also to create SEO-driven travel guides.
However, its latest move shows that the company is exploring new ways to engage advertisers beyond sponsored content and programmatic advertising. According to BuzzFeed, Botatouille “provides partners and customers with premium offerings, custom integrations, and additional in-app and web capabilities.”
However, in a recent article for The New York Times, Peretti said that BuzzFeed plans to use AI to “sell its users subscriptions by offering them personalized services and custom interactions on offerings like Botatouille.”
“We developed Botatouille with our audience in mind, combining Tasty’s culinary insights with cutting-edge AI technology to help our community navigate every part of the cooking process,” said Hannah Bricker, general manager of lifestyle content and Tasty on BuzzFeed.
“We’re excited to work with our users to continue to customize and improve this AI-powered chef bot based on their feedback – while leveraging new technologies to improve the cooking experience online and in the kitchen.”
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I write for Forbes, covering the convergence of AI and creativity. Send tips, pitches or notes via email ([email protected]).
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