Hey everyone,
I have noticed that some recipes on the internet make no sense and have my suspicions that they may be AI slop. The ratios are off, the cook time is unlikely, the illustration is AI made… But it’s hard. And it will likely be getting harder to identify AI generated recipes in the future.
It’s come to the point that I have a hard time trusting a recipe witten after the AI craze started (let’s call it 2025). I’m so suspicious of everything, my go-to “authenticity” check is to not bother with recipes that have recent publication dates. But this isn’t exactly fair nor fool proof.
Do you have tips on how to spot an AI generated recipe?
Might have to go back to the cookbook concept of yore.
So, either buy a physical, reputable cookbook and then try the recipes in there. Or just go to known-good recipe webpages and go through their recipes.
But yeah, just thinking “I’d like to make Venezuelan vuvuzela vegetables”, then typing that into a search engine and cooking whatever’s the first result, that won’t be possible anymore…
I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but it’s a drum worth beating; if you live somewhere with a public library, there is a very good chance that they have a collection of cookbooks that are available to check out for free. Alternatively, no one has ever batted an eye at me making copies of the specific recipes I want to try right there at the library. I have to pay $0.10 a copy, but it’s worth it. Especially since I know how I cook, and this keeps the library’s books out of harm’s way. My local library has stuff ranging from the latest James Beard winners, to tried and true standbys like The Joy of Cooking, as well as stuff with a local focus (either ingredients, or historical).
Funny you mention the library; I put a couple of cookbooks on hold just a few minutes ago because of this community!
Yes, cookbooks are the way to go. SEO and AI slop have made finding recipes on the Internet a frustrating experience. I’ve slowly built up a collection of about five to seven cookbooks. Those books offer me plenty of choices. For example, just a few days ago, I made buttermilk biscuits and ended up having four different recipes to compare. I also find myself flipping through them to discover new recipes. It’s offline, peaceful, and I’m not bombarded with ads.
It’s kind of like music. I used to have a collection of cookbooks to do exactly that, just like I used to have a collection of music in various formats as technology changes. But it’s too limiting. It can never compare to a digital search among all the world’s recipes/music.
My approach was to buy a recipe manager. I generally search online to find something new that looks interesting. But then I import it into my recipe manager so I can use it without all the life story, the excessive ads, the really annoying screen redraws to show yet more ads, the popped to display additional ads or the inline partial recipes that are more ads in disguise