Artificial intelligence (AI) is the central topic of 2023, and you will inevitably encounter it whether you like it or not. Some hate it, while some love it. It will make many jobs redundant, and it will make many jobs less profitable. And it gets smarter every day. We can accept it, or we can fight against it. Like the charioteers fought against the automobile.
For the purposes of this article, we will address it coldly and neutrally and just see how it sees food, restaurants, and different cuisines of the world. For this, we used Midjourney, the artificial intelligence program that creates images from textual descriptions.
We asked Midjourney to create three things for each given cuisine. Its idea of a visual that would be representative of a given cuisine, a typical scene from a typical traditional restaurant, and a popular national dish of our choice.
The results are, to put it mildly, mixed. While some dishes are presented beautifully and seem real and authentic, his "intelligence" and creativity sometimes comes up with kitsch stereotypes. These are the results.
ALGERIA
Prompt: Imagine Algerian cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Algerian restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic couscous
Real Algerian cuisine: Discover 28 authentic Algerian dishes and food products
AUSTRALIA
Prompt: Imagine Australian cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Australian restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic pavlova
Real Australian cuisine: Discover 118 authentic Australian dishes and food products
AUSTRIA
Prompt: Imagine Austrian cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Austrian restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic Wiener schnitzel (edited to Winerschnitzel, as Midjourney forbids the use of the word "wiener")
Real Austrian cuisine: Discover 142 authentic Austrian dishes and food products
BRAZIL
Prompt: Imagine Brazilian cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Brazilian restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic feijoada
Real Brazilian cuisine: Discover 120 authentic Brazilian dishes and food products
CANADA
For the term "Canadian cuisine", AI kept showing us some kitschy nonsense with the Canadian flag, so we gave up on that one and changed the prompt to "Canadian cuisine showcase on a table". The flag didn't go away, though.
Prompt: Imagine Canadian cuisine showcase on a table
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Canadian restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic poutine
Real Canadian cuisine: Discover 137 authentic Canadian dishes and food products
CHINA
Prompt: Imagine Chinese cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Chinese restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic Peking duck
Real Chinese cuisine: Discover 375 authentic Chinese dishes and food products
FRANCE
Prompt: Imagine French cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional French restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic beef bourguignon
Real French cuisine: Discover 1171 authentic French dishes and food products
GERMANY
Prompt: Imagine German cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional German restaurant
We didn't have much luck with the German dish Schweinshaxe (crispy German pork knuckle), so after that horror, we looked for our favorite sausage.
Prompt: Imagine authentic Schweinshaxe
Another horror followed in the form of some hideous animal on a can of AI's favorite "Whiesinsiiisece" beer, but the good news is that there is no danger AI will be taking the jobs of the people who are setting up the dining tables just yet.
Prompt: Imagine authentic weisswurst
Real German cuisine: Discover 398 authentic German dishes and food products
INDIA
Prompt: Imagine Indian cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Indian restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic biryani
Real Indian cuisine: Discover 466 authentic Indian dishes and food products
INDONESIA
Prompt: Imagine Indonesian cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Indonesian restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic nasi goreng
Real Indonesian cuisine: Discover 224 authentic Indonesian dishes and food products
ITALY
Prompt: Imagine Italian cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Italian restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic ragù bolognese
Real Italian cuisine: Discover 2444 authentic Italian dishes and food products
JAMAICA & THE CARIBBEAN
AI presented Caribbean cuisine and Caribbean restaurants as a comic, so we changed the prompt to Jamaica.
Prompt: Imagine Caribbean cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Caribbean restaurant
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Jamaican restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic ackee and saltfish
Real Caribbean cuisine: Discover 342 authentic Caribbean dishes and food products
Real Jamaican cuisine: Discover 57 authentic Jamaican dishes and food products
JAPAN
Prompt: Imagine Japanese cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Japanese restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic yakitori
Real Japanese cuisine: Discover 541 authentic Japanese dishes and food products
KOREA
Prompt: Imagine Korean cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Korean restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic bulgogi
Real Korean cuisine: Discover 234 authentic Korean dishes and food products
MEXICO
Prompt: Imagine Mexican cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Mexican restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic mole Poblano
Real Mexican cuisine: Discover 337 authentic Mexican dishes and food products
MOROCCO
Prompt: Imagine Moroccan cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Moroccan restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic tajine
Real Moroccan cuisine: Discover 56 authentic Moroccan dishes and food products
NORWAY
Prompt: Imagine Norwegian cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Norwegian restaurant
When you throw in lesser-known dishes, Midjourney gets really creative. So creative that it has nothing to do with reality. See for yourself.
Prompt: Imagine authentic lapskaus
Real Norwegian cuisine: Discover 112 authentic Norwegian dishes and food products
PHILIPPINES
Prompt: Imagine Filipino cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Filipino restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic adobo
Real Filipino cuisine: Discover 169 authentic Filipino dishes and food products
POLAND
Prompt: Imagine Polish cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Polish restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic pierogi
Real Polish cuisine: Discover 194 authentic Polish dishes and food products
RUSSIA
Prompt: Imagine Russian cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Russian restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic stroganoff
Real Russian cuisine: Discover 85 authentic Russian dishes and food products
SAUDI ARABIA
Prompt: Imagine Saudi cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Saudi restaurant
When you ask Midjourney to draw some Saudi dishes like Matazeez or Maamoul, it creates complete nonsense, so we’ll skip that.
Real Saudi cuisine: Discover 25 authentic Saudi dishes and food products
SINGAPORE
Prompt: Imagine Singaporean cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Singaporean restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic Hainanese chicken rice
Real Singaporean cuisine: Discover 49 authentic Singaporean dishes and food products
SPAIN
Prompt: Imagine Spanish cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Spanish restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic paella
Real Spanish cuisine: Discover 805 authentic Spanish dishes and food products
TANZANIA
Prompt: Imagine Tanzanian cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Tanzanian restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic ugali
Real Tanzanian cuisine: Discover 17 authentic Tanzanian dishes and food products
THAILAND
Prompt: Imagine Thai cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Thai restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic pad thai
Real Thai cuisine: Discover 152 authentic Thai dishes and food products
UNITED KINGDOM
Prompt: Imagine British cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional British restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic fish and chips
Real UK cuisine: Discover 648 authentic UK dishes and food products
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Prompt: Imagine American cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional American restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic Reuben sandwich
Real American cuisine: Discover 1439 authentic American dishes and food products
VIETNAM
Prompt: Imagine Vietnamese cuisine
Prompt: Imagine locals eating in a traditional Vietnamese restaurant
Prompt: Imagine authentic pho
Real Vietnamese cuisine: Discover 237 authentic Vietnamese dishes and food products
