What Happens When ChatGPT Takes Your Cocktail Order?

AI-generated cocktails are put to the test in Houston's Axelrad restaurant's "Humans vs. Machines" menu.

We live in a world where blockchain bourbons, NFT whiskeys, and crypto cocktails are all commonplace. While some people are starting to embrace digitally infused drinks, others detest it and say, "I'd prefer my Old Fashioned analog, please."

The AI language generator ChatGPT created the new menu of drinks that Houston's Axelrad pub introduced last year. This menu item, "Humans vs. Machines," will compare four drinks created by robots to four identical drinks created by real bartenders. Patrons are able to choose their favorite drink by voting for half pieces of each one. Either a human or a computer team that wins at the end of the month gets bragging rights and their cocktails are permanently added to the menu.

I've noticed that ChatGPT is utilized in many different industries, therefore we wondered whether it could make a drink. Owner Adam Brackman says. "Why not see what it can do behind a bar? It's passed medical exams and the bar."

"Thus, he gave four cues to ChatGPT, such as "make a spicy mocktail" and "a legend of Zelda-inspired drink."

The AI came up with a Sweet Heat mocktail—mango nectar, lime juice, honey simple syrup, and a dash of cayenne and paprika—when asked to make a hot mocktail. Axelrad came back with a spicy Paloma made with grapefruit and Squirt soda, enhanced by the addition of muddled serrano chiles for more intensity.

There are also two berry drinks pitted against each other: an AI-made Berry Blitz (gin, simple syrup, lemon juice, blackberry puree, and chambord) and a human-made Blackberry Bramble Jam (Texas Ranger whiskey, lemon juice, and blackberry puree). According to Brackman, "ChatGPT had a real tendency to just crank out a cocktail made with all liqueurs."

The neon-blue Triforce tonic, which consists of gin, pineapple, honey, and a generous dose of blue curacao, is one of the two Legend of Zelda beverages. The other is the Zeldarita, a Margarita made with tequila and melon liqueur laced with serrano. (Hint: the one with the large glug of blue curacao is the one that represents AI.)

For a frozen, fruity beverage? While Axelrad's bartenders created a frozen cocktail using rum, mango nectar and syrup, lime juice, Chamoy, and tajin, ChatGPT created a slushie with rum, pineapple juice, coconut milk, and lime juice. "ChatGPT's is not that bad! Brackman acknowledges. It's comparable to a Pina Colada. It really is just searching through all of the cocktail recipes that have been published online, when you stop to think about it.

Nevertheless, considerable fine-tuning was required to make ChatGPT's recipes palatable. According to Brackman, "We discovered right away that they lacked some creativity—ChatGPT would just crank out sugary drinks." Thus, the bartenders at Axelrad would need to persuade ChatGPT to provide better cocktails. They told drinks that included too much simple syrup. Excessive use of liqueurs? They would give the order to reduce it. Ultimately, we came up with a few dishes that weren't too awful!"

The primary shortcoming in AI's future behind bars is ChatGPT's lack of independence and requirement for supervision. ChatGPT is, well, a machine. It lacks a taste to detect when a drink is imbalanced and a mouth to really sip cocktails.  "It's obvious that the robot lacks taste and adaptability, but our bartenders do," Brackman argues. Therefore, he primarily uses ChatGPT as a tool for inspiration. He enters ingredients or a general feeling, then waits to see what the AI software suggests before utilizing his own expertise to finish the dish. (If you have a bar cart full of strange ingredients, ChatGPT might be able to help you create something amazing with them.)

Brackman believes his ChatGPT escapades won't end even once this experiment is over. He states, "We'll probably use the AI for our monthly specials." Every time we choose a nonprofit, we contribute the earnings from the sale of a drink to that organization. Coming up with a new name and cocktail every time might be really tiresome. Thus, we could input the non-profit's colors and flavors, and ChatGPT would respond to those cues.

Employees have also begun using ChatGPT when they are having trouble naming a cocktail. "We asked AI to help us come up with our St. Patrick's Day drinks," Brackman explains. "The names weren't too horrible, like Celtic Cider Crush!"

While some see ChatGPT's intrusion as a threat, Brackman is certain that AI will never take the role of genuine, face-to-face hospitality.  He discovers that "people go to bars to interact with people." The joy and familiarity of a Friday night at your favorite local are gone when real bartenders are removed from the picture, just as we were unable to duplicate the exuberance of a genuine bar on Zoom.

While machines can perform certain tasks, human interaction is still required in several industries. Although most customers at Axelrad come to the bar because of the atmosphere and interaction, they do provide the option to order using an app.