NYT Cooking adds AI tools for recipe swaps and serving size changes

In short: NYT Cooking is rolling out AI tools in its iOS app that let subscribers customize recipes, with a wider rollout planned.

What happened

The New York Times Cooking is adding new AI-powered tools that help subscribers personalize recipes. People can ask to swap ingredients, adjust for dietary needs, change the number of servings, and factor in what kitchen equipment they have.

The customization feature is launching gradually in the NYT Cooking iOS app. The company says a wider rollout is planned.

NYT Cooking says these tools are meant to make its large recipe library easier to use, not to replace its human editors. When someone requests a change, the system first checks the recipe itself, then NYT Cooking’s substitution guide and reader comments. If those sources do not answer the question, the AI steps in using what NYT Cooking describes as editorial expertise.

NYT Cooking also introduced one-tap recipe scaling, which means changing ingredient amounts automatically when you want more or fewer servings. Editors worked with engineers to refine the AI model (a trained computer system that makes text suggestions) and review scaled recipes. However, these versions have not been tested as written, and cooking times can stay the same even when ingredient amounts change.

Why it matters

For home cooks, this could save time and reduce guesswork, like having a helpful note-taker next to the recipe. But NYT Cooking warns that customized versions are not cooked, tested, edited, or endorsed by its editors or the original recipe creators, so people should use their own judgment when following AI-generated adjustments.

Source: NYTimes