Culture

AI Senbei: We Tried an Onigiri Rice Cracker Developed with Artificial Intelligence

Data Artist's AI analyzed the ingredients of 82,000 recipes online containing with the word やみつき, meaning "addictive taste," in them.

Published

2 years ago

March 30, 2022

grape Japan

Photo by Grape Japan.

AI Senbei

Japanese snack maker 株式会社マスヤ Masuya Inc., known for their hit product おにぎりせんべい onigiri senbei (lit. "rice ball rice cracker"), triangular rice crackers shaped like little onigiri rice balls, has made a bold departure from their traditional formula by launching a new product using artificial intelligence in the development process, called "AI Senbei."

Masuya worked with AI solutions company Data Artist, Inc., as well as TV Tokyo's business development variety show 今日からやる会議 kyō kara yaru kaigi (lit. "let's start today" conference) to develop the snack, under the concept that the show's original "AI Vtuber" タミ子 Tamiko derived the result.

Using AI to create the "ultimate addictive taste"

Data Artist's AI analyzed the ingredients of 82,000 recipes online containing with the word やみつき, meaning "addictive taste," in them (The word is a common descriptor in Japanese recipe titles of late.) As a result, it found the optimal combination of ingredients that makes dishes "addictive" 99.8% of the time. Using this data, Masuya's research division incorporated this combination into the flavor profile of the final product.

The rest of the article can be viewed on our partner’s website, grape Japan at “AI Senbei: We tried an onigiri rice cracker developed with artificial intelligence.”

Author: Grape Japan