inviting you, me and chatgpt for dinner
essay time: discussing 5 ways I think AI can't touch personal food writing šŖ š šŖ
As I sit here, sipping a coconut coffee, laptop out, in a cafe Iāve been fondly visiting for seven months now, there are some big things on my mind. What else is new? Duh.
No doubt there are for you, right now. Thatās how it goes for us over-thinkers. Your schedule, relationships, bills, exercise, politics, the laundry, the dog, whatās for dinner.
For me, itās most of these. Iām thinking about where to move (againā¦), wanting a cat (eventually!), contemplating a second cĆ phĆŖ Äen ÄĆ” (iced black coffee, asap), how my favorite pasta shape for much of my childhood was the āwagon wheelā, and oh, yeah, how Iām now openly someone who remains weirded out by the normality of hearing āChatGPTā and āAIā used in the conversations around me. By people I know. People I like.
As a writer, as a reader, as a lifelong bookworm, sci-fi enthusiast, and person who spends a lot of time reflecting, I remain creeped out. Letās talk about this. Letās conversate. Just us.
Iām seeing āitā mentioned more than a little here on Substack. And thatās on FOOD Substack, where private chefs, restaurant professionals, travel foodies, recipe developers, cookbook authors, food writers and obsessive home cooks all come to share & inspire & bond. Itās giving me the ICKS.
Look, I may live without my cookbooks these days. OMG, I donāt wish the same on others.
Cue rant. Cue raves. Cue me hanging out in the cookbook section of a bookstore or better yet - public library - again, one day. The biggest dang smile on my face, and a canvas tote overflowing with ideas & appetite.
Soooo. Recently, I saw a Substack post floating around where a food writer āasked CHATGPTā as a form of research, and it made my stomach and mind ache. I thought - gut-wrenchingly - why not inquire with fellow food writers on a Note?Why not ask family & friends in person, or via text? On the socials? Get the community consciousness flowing.
Is ChatGPT really where the food-focused writers & people are going to research, menu plan and get ideas? Has it really come to this? No, no. Letās not. : /
Iām not saying you need to spend hours reading through physical books. Or e-books. Despite my obvious physical cookbook jealously! Iām not going to assume everyone remembers or knows what a subject/ingredient āIndexā is. Ah, ah.
I grasp that the written word and online landscape is changing. Thereās access to super duper immediate knowledge on a messy internet, and something resembling expertise. People are tired. This helps.
Yet, this does not ring true for authenticity. There does not have to be a cheat.
As much as I write about this topic with obvious ache & annoyance, I embrace that the heart of food & writing continues through time, taste and human memory.
Clarifying: Iām not staunchly anti-AI. Make a cover letter. Ask for help when thereās no one around. Get legal advice. Iāve done all of this.
(And then Iām even more exhausted tweaking the heck out of everything.)
However - Iām emphatically one who wants to read (and try!) othersā stories, tips, and tastes - especially when it comes to food.
These days, my stash of cookbooks are far away and Iām living in SE Asia. My pantry inventory has changed. My meal-time repertoire swings back, and forth, through my own timelines.
My culinary inspiration now steadily comes from slowly visiting the local markets, the flavors + ingredients of my new āhomeā here in central Vietnam, and my own nostalgia for the flavors, people, places & traditions of where Iāve lived through the years.
Thatās me. Thatās me making dinner, and sharing the story of how it came to be. And I want to hear the same from you.
So, naturally, Iāve been thinking about what all this meant. And what it doesnāt mean.
Five Ways AI Cannot + Should Not Touch Your Oh, So Personal Food Writing:
1) Your Voice, Your Tone.
The family, friends, cities, arts & culture that have shaped your own vocabulary and descriptive style. The phrases we pick up through the years. Groovy, cool, emojis, and the catchphrase influence of Emeril & Rachel Ray & whoever youāre watching on social media, to the protagonist in a favorite novel, to the calls back home with your sister. You can write stream of consciousness (ahem, I can relate) - you can detour into poetry - or buzzwords - memories - whatever. Thatās your style. Your personality, in life and the kitchen.
2) Your Uniquely Influenced Tastebuds.
Youāve lived, baby. Youāre still living. Where are you these days? Where did you grow up? Your words and food are coming from your own intrinsic, evolving, particular & whimsical culinary influences.
Me? Iām a native New Yorker with primarily Italian lineage, whoās lived in the Pacific Northwest, the Netherlands, remote Alaska and even-more remote (protected) wilderness in Wyoming - and now Iām eating & cooking in SE Asia. Iām aiming for a year plus!
In the past decade, Iāve come to embrace foraging, jam-making, and now, almost-daily bowls of herb-adorned rice noodles, after early years of pizza, pasta, and somewhat-more-mature era of farmers market-hopping and vegan cocktail hours. What about you? From tonightās take-away to tomorrow eveningās thematic dinner party, thatās your own food tale of life & flavor to share.
3) Where Youāve Been & Where Youāre Going. For Life + Dinner.
This is an extension of the second point - because I can keep going!
Credit the cultural & familial, regional influences, tastebuds, neighborhood joints, family dinners, and late night snacks. The foods you loved growing up, and what you avoided. Thatās you.
Todayās tastebuds are the result of a lifetime of these influences. Travel. Where youāve been, and where you want to go next. The weekend getaway, or move across the continent(s).
ChatGPT didnāt know your grandparents, or the recipes and methods they may have passed down. It wasnāt there for the slurpy spaghetti dinners where someone regretted wearing a white blouse. The Sunday morning bagel spreads where you fought with your siblings over the remaining sesame bagel that welcomely mingled with the savory garlic bagel in the bag. The visits to the Greek diner after graduations and recitals. The late night froyo deliveries in college. Sharing later night, and then comfortably, ordering any-time basket of tater tots and cold tallboys of cheap beer during your (okay, my) thirties in the Northwest.
Hey, you - Insert your own memories of give, take, and tastebuds.
4) The Ongoing Seasonality + Availability of Produce in Your Region.
Sure, sure, ChatGPT can spit back research about whatās typically in season where you live. BUT, itās not in your garden bed. Itās not strutting the weekend farmers market and carefully considering whether to go home with golden or chioggia beets (btw, the answer is both, and to wilt the tops into pasta, imo).
It can check the weather and review past + recorded downfall. However, it CANāT hold the umbrella or stomp through the mud at the pumpkin patch, or admire the changing colors on the leaves at the apple orchard. Get inspired. Take photos. Maybe keep them off the cloud? Mostly kidding with that one. As if I do. : )
5) When You Write in a Notebook!
Writing down ideas, meal plans and grocery lists on a physical piece of paper is the best. You get time to think, a physical means to remember what your intentions are, and experience old-school, feel-good list-making. Itās a literal check-mark.
I totally recognize that huh, Iāve always been a notebook person. And then, I was a conference + event planner for ages. Once a list-maker, always a list-maker.
You write some ideas down, and hours / days / or whoās to say how much longer later, you add something else.
Another thought, or ingredient, or culinary field trip to-be.
Cross off that Pasta e Fagioli thatās finally on the stove again. The Channa Masala and Garlic Naan youāre seriously making for company this week, which means thereās baking powder you need to pick up soon. The hot & spicy & easy Peanut Noodles you should seriously rock out more. The Green Curry Spaghetti youāve been daydreaming about since Bangkok. Okay, thatās all me. Thatās my life, notebook and kitchen.
(And come on, despite the convenient, current ironyā¦a notebook feels way more intimate vs. typing in Google docs.)
Find a pen. Write a list. Admire that list. Add more. What purpose and charm.
What are *Your* thoughts on ChatGPT and food writing? Recipe development?
Has it helped you? Am I overlooking something? Letās talk! š¤
Hi, hi. Clarifying some more with a Side Note: Living in SE Asia, I meet people of all ages who plan their complex international trips & routes with the use of ChatGPT. Travel planning can be overwhelming. I get it. Getting free, immediate assistance relieves stress. It seemingly wasn't influenced or sponsored, unlike many printed & digital guides.
Plus, I say this all as freelance copywriter whoās been rebranding herself in recent time as āconversationalā and āAI-freeā. Oh, snap.
Back to the food memoriesā¦
References + Relevant Links:
a re-introduction, these scone archives July 24, 2025
Chilled Golden Beets & Ginger Soup, The Post Punk Kitchen August 4, 2011 (Isa is my 4va culinary idol)
Daās Organic Farm Cooking Class in Chiang Mai, Thailand
No Waste to Go bulk store in Da Nang, Vietnam
Vegan Unribs from The Homemade Vegan Pantry by Miyoko Schinner, via Healthy Slow Cooking August 8, 2018 {I have made these many times now - so recommended}
insta: @travelforthefood + @scone.archives
Psst, want to be super sweet + support the scone archives and not ready to pledge a monthly subscription? Itās cool. Perhaps, kindly treat jess to a $5 cup of coffee!? ā
Stay tuned: these scone archives shall continue this week with another installment of Chay Corner.
Spot on, Jess- like all tools, thereās a way to use them, and thereās way not to. I might ruffle some feathers, but Chat GPT is like sousvide for writers. Yes, itās convenient, deciphers through the complexities, and allows everyone to turn out āprofessional-ishā results, but should everyone use it? Not for everything, probably??
If everyone used these technological advancements, surely some of human controls would be lost. Without that curiosity to create, how would we continue to evolve? Just like with anything new, it will get over used, and there will be grounded purists resisting to go along with the cool kids..
And eventually, there will be a middle ground to use it in a healthy, structured way. In order to get there, each individual has to define their boundary of how much tech/AI/etc they want in their lives and where they donāt want them to be in. I write this on my cellphone, squinting at the small screen, and correct my misspelling on my own, since I get in heated arguments with autocorrect, haha! I am not tech savvy, and not willing to relinquish control to something so fun and defining as creating/sharing. I will just have technology tell me about the weather, and have video chats with loved ones in other parts of the world be enough. If I donāt know something, I could always humbly ask someone I trust on the matter too.
When it comes to anything I create, I know I have flaws; Same goes for grammar errors in my writing or slicing up chives that arenāt so even- At least people will know that I did that, and not some machine. Most importantly, I WILL KNOW that I created them, and I can stand behind it. I will take full responsibility, and allow myself to gain wisdom from the imperfect life experiences.
I agree what you said about AI--and not just for food writing. I have a translator friend who fears it will decimate her profession. I'm a medical writer (by day), & many of my colleagues also share this fear.
As you said, AI has its uses. But I believe it can never replace the human touch --with our quirky sprinkles of individuality & authenticity. When we're not authentic, we may as well be AI.