Fancy whipping up some "mosquito-repellent roast potatoes" for supper? How about a "poison bread sandwich," with a side dish of chlorine gas, a deadly vapor used as a chemical warfare agent during World War I? Then head over to Savey Meal-Bot, a web-based app that uses AI to generate recipes from "any food you have in your fridge or pantry."
The app, offered by the New Zealand supermarket chain Pak 'n' Save, seems to have a poor understanding of the human appetite. It called its chlorine gas recipe an "aromatic water mix" and described it as "the perfect non-alcoholic beverage to quench your thirst and refresh your senses. Serve chilled and enjoy the refreshing fragrance."
As reported in The Guardian, the app fails to "note that inhaling chlorine gas can cause lung damage or death."
From the article:
New Zealand political commentator Liam Hehir posted the "recipe" to Twitter, prompting other New Zealanders to experiment and share their results to social media. Recommendations included a bleach "fresh breath" mocktail, ant-poison and glue sandwiches, "bleach-infused rice surprise" and "methanol bliss" – a kind of turpentine-flavoured french toast.
A spokesperson for the supermarket said they were disappointed to see "a small minority have tried to use the tool inappropriately and not for its intended purpose". In a statement, they said that the supermarket would "keep fine tuning our controls" of the bot to ensure it was safe and useful, and noted that the bot has terms and conditions stating that users should be over 18.
