Food has long been a medium through which values, identities, and histories are transmitted—across families, generations, and communities. Kitchens are spaces of learning and belonging, where heritage and science meet, and where everyday acts of cooking communicate cultural and moral understandings about nourishment, hospitality, and identity. They are also sites for experimentation – both deliberate and accidental – in new cultural and social configurations. 

As AI-driven food technologies enter these intimate and communal spaces, questions arise: What values are embedded in algorithmic decision-making about taste and nutrition? How might AI reshape traditions, gender roles, or cultural authenticity? And how do societies preserve culinary heritage while embracing technological innovation? Is innovation itself central to the kitchen as a social space? 

There is much about automation in the kitchen that is prized: it can alleviate labor burdens, enhance efficiency, and support sustainability by reducing waste. Yet, paired with the new capabilities of AI, further automation in restaurants and homes demands careful reflection on what forms of creativity, labor, and connection are lost or gained when machines cook alongside—or in place of—humans. 

As AI food technologies enter mainstream life, companies rely heavily on brand design and communication to make these systems approachable, trustworthy, and culturally relevant to consumers. This growing importance on how AI in food is designed, narrated, branded, and visually communicated to the public. It raises important questions across disciplinary boundaries as to how we can promote tech-optimism without losing the authenticity and heritage embedded in food stories. Linguists, designers, historians, and anthropologists are among the scholars needed to weigh in on the likely changes to come with AI-driven food futures. 

This Expert Workshop is a collaboration between NTU and Cal Poly, and is specifically intended to develop perspectives on the ethical and societal dimensions of AI in the kitchen that are specific to the Asia Pacific region. Previous discussions, as led by Cal Poly, have focused on North America and Europe; however, these regions hardly account for the diversity of emerging global trends.  

This Singapore meeting will build on international workshops and discussions, with attention to cultural differences in culinary heritage, national priorities, and technological adoption. By convening scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, the workshop aims to articulate how food technologies can honor history and heritage while fostering responsible innovation for the future of cooking. Linguists, designers, historians, and philosophers are among the scholars needed to weigh in on the likely changes to come with AI-driven food futures.