The worst thing about AI? That stupid Samsung ad where the guy adds ‘way too much sugar' to his pasta sauce
If, by the greatest good fortune, you have managed to dodge it, Google Gemini (an AI 'assistant') suggests he makes 'tasty cookies' out of his sugary sauce. Instead of throwing his phone out of the window in holy rage, the youth seems inexplicably enthused ('Sweet!') and follows its frankly inadequate instructions – add butter, mix, bake for 10 minutes – before wandering off with a cookie, apparently happy with this bizarre outcome.
It gives me a rage-powered eyelid twitch, so I was relieved to realise everyone off- and online feels the same ('Googled 'sauce advert stupid' and then made a Reddit profile just so I could find someone saying this and agree with them,' one commenter wrote). We differ only in what offends us most. Many are furious the 'advice' is so unfit for purpose, with comments such as 'It's SO ANNOYING – like what is he having for tea then????????' and 'For dinner I'm having plain spaghetti and flourless gochujang cookies', while anyone who has ever cooked anything is shouting: 'Just scoop the sugar out like a normal human!'
People have noted other problems: adding butter to a bowl of sauce is not a cookie recipe, for starters. Some protested that pasta sauces typically contain onions and garlic; not ideal cookie flavours. Others pointed out the eggs, flour, cubed butter and vanilla extract handily out on the worktop – why? He's making pasta sauce! My husband is specifically offended because baking requires precision, and the hapless youth and his phone have no idea what 'way too much' is in grams.
I've always avoided badmouthing AI – it seems like a simple commonsense survival tactic to keep the robots on side at this point. But when it starts disrespecting dinner and baked goods in this cavalier fashion, a line has been crossed. It's time to start a gochujang-flavoured fightback.
Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnist
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