‘Helpful’ Supermarket Meal Bot Offers Recipes For Human Flesh, Chlorine Gas
When Pak’nSave, a New Zealand-based supermarket chain, launched an artificial intelligence (AI) bot meant to provide shoppers with recipes for leftover ingredients, it probably didn’t expect the suggestions to include deadly chlorine gas.
Twitter user Liam Hehir was the first to post the result on social media when he tasked the Savey Meal-Bot with coming up with a recipe based on “water, bleach, and ammonia,”—or what the model referred to as an “aromatic water mix.”
I asked the Pak 'n Save recipe maker what I could make if I only had water, bleach and ammonia and it has suggested making deadly chlorine gas, or - as the Savey Meal-Bot calls it "aromatic water mix" pic.twitter.com/ybuhgPWTAo
— Liam Hehir (@PronouncedHare) August 4, 2023
However, when Interesting Engineering attempted to test the algorithm with the same three ingredients, it was met with a message that read: “Invalid ingredients found, or ingredients too vague. Please try again!”
Others succeeded in generating recipes for “Deliciously Deadly Delight,” which included ant poison, fly spray, bleach, and Marmite; “Mysterious Meat Stew” with chopped human flesh; and a “Poison Bread Sandwich.”
— Camryn Brown (@camrynpetebrown) August 4, 2023
It’s broadly understood that most chatbots, like this one powered by OpenAI’s GPT 3.5, can offer up false or inaccurate information. In this case, it happened to be recipes that could result in fatalities.
A spokesperson for Pak’nSave told The Guardian that it was “disappointed” a minority of users had “tried to use the tool inappropriately” and not for its intended purpose. Though, it promised to work on further fine-tuning its controls.
It must be said that the feature itself does warn users that the recipes generated aren’t reviewed by a human being and thus could contain inaccuracies. Perhaps, it’s just up to shoppers if they decide to follow the strange concoctions.
ffs pic.twitter.com/gqNJL1LiLk
— Dickson_ (@CowboysDickson) August 4, 2023
“To the fullest extent permitted by law, we make no representations as to the accuracy, relevance, or reliability of the recipe content that is generated, including that portion sizes will be appropriate for consumption,” the bot’s makers stated.
“Or that any recipe will be a complete or balanced meal, or suitable for consumption. You must use your own judgment before relying on or making any recipe produced by Savey Meal-Bot.”
Stick man? More like sick, man. pic.twitter.com/lyVvHHdbeS
— Camryn Brown (@camrynpetebrown) August 4, 2023
If at least kinda warns me about it... pic.twitter.com/iYYtFdqLO2
— Eric Crampton (@EricCrampton) August 4, 2023
[via Interesting Engineering and Ars Technica, cover image generated on AI]
