Restaurants in Dubai Will Use AI Chefs to Design Menus

Liputan6.com, Jakarta WOOHOO, a restaurant whose entire concept was designed by an artificial intelligence (AI)-based chef named Chef Aiman, is coming to Dubai soon.

The restaurant is set to begin operations in September 2025 in downtown Dubai, located near the Burj Khalifa.

WOOHOO diners will be presented with a restaurant experience - from the menu, atmosphere, to service - that is entirely designed by AI.

Reporting from Reuters on Thursday (July 10), Chef Aiman, which stands for "AI" and "man", is a large language model trained using decades of food science research data, the molecular composition of food ingredients, and more than a thousand recipes from various world culinary traditions.

"Chef Aiman works by breaking down dishes into basic elements such as texture, acidity and umami, and then reassembles them into unique combinations of flavors and ingredients," explains Ahmet Oytun Cakir, co-founder of WOOHOO and CEO of hospitality company Gastronaut.

However, as the developers explain, Chef Aiman lacks the sense of taste and smell of a regular chef. Therefore, the initial concoctions will be refined by a team of human chefs, led by Dubai-based chef Reif Othman.

"Their responses to my suggestions help refine my understanding of what works beyond just data," Aiman said in an interactive interview with the AI model.

Oytun Cakir emphasized that Aiman's presence is complementary to encourage creativity and innovation in the culinary world.

"Human cooking will never be replaced, but we believe (Aiman) will enhance ideas and creativity," Cakir said.

Chef Aiman is also designed to create recipes that utilize leftover ingredients often discarded by restaurants, such as unused cuts of meat or fat, in support of the sustainability concept.

In the long run, the founders of WOOHOO hope to license the Chef Aiman system to restaurants worldwide.

The goal is to reduce kitchen waste while improving efficiency and sustainability in the global culinary industry.