Skype recently introduced the Heston Bot, a digital assistant based on the career and personality of British celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal. The chef, armed with no less than three Michelin stars, is the patron of The Fat Duck in the U.K., and also owns the restaurant Dinner in London as well as two pubs in Bray. He is also something of a television star in the U.K., most recently having fronted Heston’s Fantastical Food.
Blumenthal is a fascinating personality who advocates a scientific understanding in cooking as well as multisensory cooking, food pairing, and flavor encapsulation. His partnership with Microsoft will offer a simulated personality that can share cooking tips, flavor pairings and stories from the chef as well as seasonal menus and video messages from Blumenthal.
“Whether you’re new to cooking or a seasoned pro, we want to empower you to think differently about food,” Skype wrote in a blog post. “That’s why we’re excited to launch the first-ever food-inspired ‘Heston Bot’ exclusively for Skype, bringing you up close and personal with legendary chef Heston Blumenthal, whose creative and technical expertise, welcoming personality and experimental flair will now be accessible to all through the Heston Bot.”
Artificial intelligence-enabled celebrity chatbots are quickly becoming a thing, with partnerships springing up on Facebook, Twitter, Messenger and other social media platforms. Celebrities who have launched their own chatbots range from Kanye West and Selena Gomez to South Park‘s Eric Cartman and Star Trek‘s George Takei. Britain is also a hotbed for celebrity chefs, being home turf for Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, and Gordon Ramsay, among many others.
Blumenthal is no stranger to embedding technology in his cooking process. Recently, he partnered with an Australian manufacturer to launch a high-tech barbecue called Everdure with a fast flame ignition system that helps reduce the need for chemical fire starters.
To get the Heston Bot, search for the Heston Bot in the Skype Bot Directory, read the bot’s profile and terms, and then click “Add to Contacts.”
Here, you can check out a video of Blumenthal expressing his excitement about the Skype partnership.
