Opinion ArticleI learned to cook for the people around me because a plate of food has always been the clearest way I know to show someone I care. Bringing AI into that process sounds like it would make the gesture less personal; however, as a college student cooking on a tight budget, I have found the opposite. AI doesn't replace the personal side of cooking; it makes cooking easier, more affordable, and more accessible.
I have found using an AI assistant useful for working from what is already in my kitchen. Late in the week, when my fridge dwindles down to a few items, I photograph the items in my fridge or type a list and ask for something I can make without another trip to the store. Last week, two soft tomatoes, a green pepper, and a few eggs turned into Menemen, a Turkish dish that consists of eggs scrambled slowly into peppers and tomatoes softened in olive oil. Keeping one conversation going throughout the week allows the AI assistant to track what foods I have on hand, and knows what meals I skip. When I told it I’d skipped a meal on my plan, it suggested an Asian-inspired chicken dish that used the frozen vegetables I’d bought for that meal and forgotten about. Planning the week around one shared grocery list saves me about $30 a week. Prior to using an AI assistant, I would buy groceries without much of a plan of how I intended to use them.
AI has also helped me overcome my biggest culinary blind spot: unfamiliarity with cuisines beyond my comfort zone. I try to dedicate each week to a different region's cuisine, which provides me the opportunity to explore flavors that are entirely new to me. I start with a simple prompt: “Generate a Mediterranean meal plan for the week.” Within moments, it will provide ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that are Mediterranean-themed, along with a grocery list with suggested quantities for each ingredient. This has been useful for saving me money and preventing food waste. It is also much more convenient than finding the recipes I want to make for the week and determining how much of each ingredient I need. AI provides suggestions for ingredient substitutions as well, allowing me to make the most of what I already have available to me.
Despite the benefits discussed, using AI in the kitchen, of course, comes with many practical limitations and ethical concerns. AI models are trained on existing information available on the internet, including countless recipes, blog posts, and photos published by independent food writers. AI often uses this information without the creators' consent, compensation, or proper attribution when generating meal suggestions. Inevitably, this reduces traffic to the original creators’ websites and threatens the revenue they depend on. While I can't resolve these broader concerns, I can make more intentional choices about how I use AI. One of those is asking the AI assistant to provide links to the websites it gathers the recipes from and then following the recipe from the site. This also alleviates another problem I have encountered: AI is great at telling me a dish exists but is less useful for providing me with clear instructions about how to make it. Visiting the website the recipe is on also helps support its creator by driving traffic and potential revenue to their website while ensuring I follow the recipe accurately. Additionally, it is important to mention that I never take food-safety advice from AI alone, so I confirm cooking temperatures with a thermometer and USDA guidelines.
AI certainly has its drawbacks and ethical concerns, some of which I likely will be unable to solve. But over the past few months, I've learned how to use it thoughtfully while saving money and making the most of what I already have. By taking care of the planning and calculations, AI makes cooking easier and gives me more time and confidence to focus on why I started cooking in the first place: making food for the people I care about.