292
Coca-Cola's New AI-Generated Soda Flavor Falls Flat
(gizmodo.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
I have so many questions, none of which are answered by the article. Was the flavor really picked by an AI? If so, how did they train the AI? What kind of AI was this? What other flavors did it come up with? Did they try a bunch of them and this was the best one they could get?
This whole thing just screams marketing stunt to me, and not a particularly good one. I can't wait for this whole AI thing to just die out already. How is it that every tech fad seems to somehow end up being even dumber than the previous one (although I think the whole NFT thing might have set a new low bar)?
It’s just the latest in a long line of experimental, conceptual Coke flavours. Honestly, it’s something I’ve been saying for years; stop being constrained by imitating “real” flavours and let the flavour scientists loose, let 'em go nuts.
So far they've done:
Space (I liked that, hints of toasted carmel and raspberries)
Dream (Also good, a little bubblegummy, a little cotton candy-y, a little mangolike)
Transformation (Awful, like coke with coconut oil and a hint of turpentine)
Byte (Just decent, kind of indescribable)
Pixel (I never got to try it, it was US only, but by all descriptions it wasn't great)
Movement (A bit like theatre butter and cinnamon, it was okay but wasn't a fan)
And now AI flavour. I plan to give it a shot, but I don't expect much after their last two Tech-y flavours were eh.
Space (I think it was branded "Starlight") was really good, Id keep getting it if it were available. Then I tried Dream (it was meh), couldn't get the Starlight I wanted, and just... ignored them from then on out. This new one is the first one Ive tried in a while; its ok, vaguely autumnal (cinnamon-y...?) but Im not hooked.