Proponents of artificial intelligence programs — such as the groundbreaking new AI chatbot ChatGPT — believe they will one day enable technology to effectively take over many mundane, time-consuming tasks during the average workday.
But what about applying AI to jobs that are hundreds or even thousands of years old? Say, brewing beer?
Hundreds of drinkers in Europe will apparently get a chance to find out.
German brewer Beck’s recently unveiled a new, limited-edition brew known as “Autonomous” to mark its 150th anniversary.
As the name implies, Beck’s used AI — specifically, ChatGPT and San Francisco AI lab Midjourney — to generate the new beer; everything, it says, from the recipe all the way through the final logo design, packaging, and advertising processes.
Beck’s — part of brewing giant AB InBev along with Budweiser and Stella Artois — said the AI helped bring together the company’s years of brewing experience and the millions of possible combinations of water, malt, hops and yeast, all implemented by its current master brewers.
Officials suggested that it shows how “artificial intelligence and humans can work together to revolutionize the beverage world.”
The company quickly sold out of its allotment of 450 of the specialty “beer that made itself” through a pre-sale in Germany, Italy and the U.K.
Beck’s says the AI-generated beverage is just the latest innovation over its century-and-a-half in business, joining a list that the company says also includes green bottles and the six-pack.
