Which meatballs would you choose?

Imagine this: you are invited to a meal, and there are two options for the main course. The first is the host’s grandmother’s meatballs, a dish that ignites a sense of nostalgia and warmth in most of our imaginations; or a plate of meatballs prepared by the most advanced culinary robot, which, besides following each recipe to the letter, can also add its «own» touches to the dish – and these touches are always the right ones, since the robot operates with artificial intelligence. 

Which meatballs would you choose?

Grandma’s meatballs will definitely be irregularly shaped, or the batter might not have covered each sphere perfectly. Also, the host’s grandmother is unlikely to make meatballs that have the exact same shape, no matter how experienced or architecturally-minded she might be. Moreover, even if she makes meatballs again the next day, there is bound to be some tiny difference in the ingredients or the execution.

Yet, the elements that make grandma’s meatballs… «perfection», can indeed be found in the precise lack of perfection.

The robot’s meatballs, on the other hand, will consist of the same quantities of ingredients, to the gram, and will be fried at the ideal temperature, for exactly as long as the recipe says. Also, no matter how many times the robot is asked to make meatballs, even twice on the same day, they will always come out «perfect»!

The answer to the introductory dilemma seems easy: of course one must choose the robot’s meatballs! Why take a chance on the human attempt when the robot can provide «perfection» with such ease?

Yet, the elements that make grandma’s meatballs… «perfection», can indeed be found in the precise lack of perfection. 

Humans, mortal and fragile, inject their sensitivity and empathy, their joy at socializing and their love for others, into their culinary talent and creativity, to create the dishes that we, their guests, will later enjoy. And the small stories that go with each dish, the chef’s emotions, the small…«mistakes», are what make up what we call culinary pleasure.

Naturally, there are differences from one grandma to another, and that is another dose of ‘magic’ that a robot can never reproduce: that each of us expresses their own uniqueness when creating anything at all! 

Now take this story and switch out grandma and the meatballs. Keep the robot, and insert a good translator, a good writer, a good graphic designer and so forth; and replace the meatballs with a translation, a story, a logo.  

Which meatballs would you choose?