Platform about design and technology in the kitchen, home, and bathroom industry
How engineerable is life? It is a philosophical question but, on the other hand, there is an extremely practical answer. If it were up to the kitchen industry, life would be highly manufacturable. After all, innovations are flying around your ears. Whenever I set my eyes on the industry, I am always surprised. Nothing can or should - apparently? - anything go wrong in the kitchen.
From your cell phone with a high-resolution camera ín your oven to see how far along the apple pie is. A push notification when the lasagna is al dente. On command, more mist in compartments 4, 7 and 9 of your refrigerator to keep your fruits and vegetables longer. And a weekly automatic message in the kitchen app on your phone telling you what groceries to do. Of course, in the message that follows, you'll read inspiring tasty recipes that you can try right away. Although, try them out? It's all taken care of for you! Man doesn't have to think anymore.
An artist told me recently that all technical (consumer) innovations - and thus art - anno now find their basis in the question of whether something is Instagram-worthy. Because, above all, people want to present themselves with the beauty of life. Only with that do they generate likes and shares. After all, these are good for self-confidence. After all, that's what we're all basically looking for, right?
But actually it is frightening that by doing so we (want to) create a society without mistakes, right? So the question I want to put to society is this: how far are innovations allowed to go? How (ultimate?) engineerable do we want life to be? Are all these technological developments really so desirable? Fortunately, I am not the only one thinking about this. After all, it will not have escaped your notice: Elon Musk, pretty much the Innovator Der Innovators, called in late March for a pause in the turbo-fast development of Artificial Intelligence. After all, we don't know what impact it will have in the near future.
Talk about surprising innovation. Last week I saw the movie ‘Sjakie en de Chocoladefabriek. I'm talking about the version with actor Johnny Depp. Willy Wonka, the eccentric chocolate manufacturer, at one point in the movie during the tour to children showed his newest invention: chewing gum. A tiny strip. But, when you put it in your mouth, you eat an entire healthy three-course meal. Wow. If that were possible, you wouldn't need any kitchen appliances at all. Let alone a kitchen. All you have to do is store a pack of gum somewhere in your house. Pretty handy in times when our homes are getting smaller due to lack of space. So say goodbye to the kitchen as an entity. And anyway, you'll never have to worry about the apple pie or lasagna failing again. Because those flavors will be on sale by then. Willy Wonka propagated the ultimate manufacturability!
Yes indeed! Because only then do you have a story to tell others. Moreover, people learn from mistakes, which in turn allows them to see personal challenges to do things differently or better next time. That feeling - as a contribution to one's own well-being - cannot be replaced by any AI-bot. Mistakes are essential for our personal growth!
But it is a dilemma. So I will never call on kitchen manufacturers to temper their innovative power. I do, however, call upon people to keep thinking for themselves, to embrace every mistake and, in the end, to consider the failed apple pie and collapsed lasagna as very Instagram-worthy. Then life will be even more fun!
