Attention-grabbing information out of IFT First this week, the meals scientist expo in Chicago, the place the longtime commerce affiliation introduced its personal AI device referred to as CoDeveloper.
Based on the announcement, CoDeveloper is a platform constructed for meals scientists by meals scientists, providing a set of AI-powered instruments to assist them formulate new merchandise, reverse-engineer current ones, and faucet into a long time of peer-reviewed meals science analysis. Branded as a “co-scientist” named Sous, the platform is designed to stay alongside R&D groups and help early-stage growth work.
It’s an fascinating transfer for the group, and so far as I can inform, the primary time a commerce affiliation within the meals area (or presumably any business) has launched its personal AI device to assist practitioners do their jobs. It additionally raises a bigger query: may this be an indication of the place commerce associations are headed as AI turns into extra integral to how we work?
It will make sense. Commerce associations have traditionally supplied worth by way of schooling, convening, requirements growth, and normal promotion. In a future the place most industries are pushed largely by AI, why wouldn’t these associations, particularly science-focused ones like IFT, wish to get in on the motion?
After all, there was no scarcity of efforts throughout the meals business to develop meals AI fashions, whether or not that’s startups seeking to promote their AI as a SaaS platform or large meals manufacturers creating AI instruments to distinguish themselves. Whether or not an available-to-everyone AI meals product growth device is one thing hyper-competitive CPG corporations could be occupied with is but to be seen, however I’m positive that will probably be one thing most members of the IFT group will wish to take for a spin across the block.
