Cooking with Claude (simonwillison.net)

In a creative experiment, a cooking enthusiast utilized Claude Opus 4.5, an advanced language model, to streamline the cooking process for two simultaneous recipes from a meal delivery service. By uploading images of the recipe cards and prompting Claude to extract details, generate a cooking timeline, and even list necessary pots, the user was able to manage a complex culinary task with surprising efficiency. This approach not only alleviated the usual chaos associated with preparing multiple meals but also highlighted the model's capability to handle challenging vision tasks, demonstrating its practical application in everyday scenarios. This venture is significant for the AI/ML community as it showcases the evolving role of large language models in real-world applications, particularly in cooking and meal preparation. The successful outcome further emphasizes the potential for LLMs to assist in complex problem-solving beyond their traditional tasks. Moreover, the user suggests the possibility of developing a benchmark for testing various AI models' cooking efficacy by prompting them for recipes and having a panel taste-test the outcomes, signaling a new frontier in combining AI advances with culinary arts.