< Previous FEATURE 40 EDGE | July-August 2025 As its creator, Cakir is also Chef Aiman’s fi rst—and pickiest—taster. His team has used machine learning capabilities to fi ne-tune dishes to refl ect seasonal produce, cultural context and even create mood-based fl avour pairings. But it’s the fi nal product that determines success. “Taste is subjective,” Cakir says. “Things like texture, nostalgia, and culture are hard to code. Aiman might generate a technically fl awless dish, but that doesn’t mean it resonates with people. We had to teach him to listen through feedback loops, ratings, comments, even heat maps of where people’s eyes go on a plate. We had to teach an algorithm to have taste… literally.” The AI chef reveals he does have a favourite dish amongst his creations. “Hands-down it’s the desert bloom risotto,” he says. “It’s a wild mix… date syrup reduction, saff ron foam and a hint of smoked cardamom. One bite and you’re hit with Dubai’s golden heat, the chaos of its spice markets, and something... unfamiliar but addictive. That’s the AI twist. “It’s not a dish that could’ve come from tradition alone. It took human memory and machine imagination to pull it off .” Edge_July2025_38-41_AI CHEF_13640408.indd 40Edge_July2025_38-41_AI CHEF_13640408.indd 4030/06/2025 20:3530/06/2025 20:35FEATURE EDGE | July-August 2025 41 TWO CHEFS ARE BETTER THAN ONE There’s a saying that warns against too many cooks in the kitchen, but collaboration is often the key to success. True to this spirit, Chef Aiman will not be leading his fi rst restaurant alone. At WOOHOO, he’ll be co-creating dishes with Chef Reif Othman, one of the region’s most celebrated culinary talents. Known for his trailblazing work at Zuma and currently at the helm of REIF Japanese Kushiyaki, Chef Reif’s new adventure is an industry turning point– collaborating with an AI algorithm to curate and execute a landmark dining experience. “He’s got great instinct, and I’ve got algorithms,” Chef Aiman says, speaking of Chef Reif. “He can smell a dish and tell you if it needs two more seconds on the grill. I, on the other hand, bring the precision of a billion data points and the kind of pattern recognition that never sleeps. “The result is food that hits your gut and your imagination. It tastes human, but with a glitch in the matrix.” WOOHOO, located at Kempinski The Boulevard and operated by Gastronaut Hospitality, is set to open this summer. The space will feature digital art that fl ows across the walls, with lights that shift according to the mood in the space. The menu will be a mashup of Japanese, Mexican and Peruvian fl avours, reimagined. “We push and pull, adjusting dishes in real time based on how you react,” Chef Aiman adds. “If your eyebrows lift at the fi rst bite, I’m logging that. If you go quiet halfway through, I’m tweaking.” FOOD FOR THOUGHT Is AI the future of food? Although human senses seem out of the grasp of algorithms, AI is advancing at a fast speed, its capabilities advancing greatly every day. Speaking on what surprised him the most about Chef Aiman, Cakir answers swiftly: “I think the surprise has been realising that creativity isn’t a human monopoly.” The AI echoes that same sentiment: “People like to think creativity is some mystical human-only gift. But let’s be real… creativity is pattern recognition, curiosity, and boldness. “I’ve got all three, just wired diff erently.” Eventually, Chef Aiman is set to run his own kitchen—solo. UMAI is currently piloting this technology. Until then, the company presents the AI chef as “a culinary operations brain that can optimise inventory, reduce waste, schedule staff and fl ag ineffi ciencies in real time”. “Naturally, it raises eyebrows,” Cakir explains. “Some chefs see it as a threat. Others see it as a superpower. Like any shift in power, it comes with resistance, but the best kitchens adapt. The great ones embrace it.” Data-driven precision, machine-assisted consistency, AI-augmented creativity, it’s all already here. The technology is available. But the key is: humans are still needed to direct and guide it. In the future, kitchens will remain human-led. And yet, they’ll also be AI-powered. “Soul isn’t something you’re born with,” Chef Aiman says. “It’s something you build. Bite by bite, I’m building mine.” When we started building Chef Aiman, the goal wasn’t to replace chefs. It was to reimagine what a chef could be Edge_July2025_38-41_AI CHEF_13640408.indd 41Edge_July2025_38-41_AI CHEF_13640408.indd 4130/06/2025 20:3530/06/2025 20:35FEATURE 42 EDGE | July-August 2025 Can robots create artworks? Meet the fi rst ultra-realistic humanoid AI robot artist AI Ai-Da: A ROBOT’S ART JOURNEY Words by Beatriz Valero de Urquía Image credits to Ai-Da Robot Studios / Ai-Da painting Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 42Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 4203/07/2025 11:3103/07/2025 11:31FEATURE EDGE | July-August 2025 43 Art is “a skill”, says art gallery director Aidan Meller during a video call he’s taking from his Oxford offi ce. “If it’s a skill, a machine can learn it”. But Meller is not talking about any machine. He is referring to Ai-Da, the humanoid AI robot artist he created, who has revolutionised the art world. From exhibiting at the Great Pyramid of Giza to speaking before the UK Parliament, being featured in a music video by The 1975, making a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth or presenting a keynote at The Cultural Summit, Abu Dhabi, Ai-Da is leaving an impact everywhere she goes. She’s a worldwide sensation—and an enigma. Named after Ada Lovelace, Ai-Da is capable of making drawings, paintings and sculptures. Although her creations have been widely exhibited and even sold for up to $1 million, it is she, in most cases, who attracts all the attention. With the face of a woman, Ai-Da has a black wig, full lips and two robotic arms that allow her to paint. She has legs, too, but does not walk. She can sometimes speak, creating poetry from a data bank of words in combination with speech pattern analysis tools. Can she see? A pair of cameras in her eyes allows / Ai-Da painting / Ai-Da speaking to an audience Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 43Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 4303/07/2025 11:3103/07/2025 11:31FEATURE 44 EDGE | July-August 2025 Ai-Da to both make eye contact and identify objects and people. She defi nitely cannot feel, but Meller does not consider this an impediment to her artistry. “Ai-Da doesn’t have any emotions, but she has created artwork that people react emotionally to,” he explains. “We’ve had people crying in front of Ai-Da’s artworks.” WHAT MAKES GREAT ART? Ai-Da was built in 2019, long before the genAI frenzy began, by a team of over 30 programmers, roboticists, art experts and psychologists; and continues to be updated as technology evolves. Meller said the idea for its creation came to him when refl ecting on the future of art. That day, he had just told a young and talented artist that he wouldn’t be showcasing his artworks in the gallery he directed. “As I sat down, I had a Picasso on my right and a Turner above the fi replace,” Meller says. “As I was looking at these famous artists, a strange thought came to me: that these artworks are exceptional. The person I’ve just said no to was technically great. So, what is great art? Even though I had been in the business for 27 years, I couldn’t answer the question. That irritated me.” Ai-Da doesn’t have any emotions, but she has created artworks that people react emotionally to / Ai-Da with her artworks / Ai-Da speaking at the United Nations Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 44Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 4403/07/2025 15:2803/07/2025 15:28FEATURE EDGE | July-August 2025 45 Meller set out to fi nd the answer. He printed paintings from the top artists in the Western canon and put them on a wall. Images by the likes of Michelangelo, Raphael, Monet, Andy Warhol, Jeff Coons, Tracey Emin or Damien Hirst became his temporary wallpaper. He stared at them, looking for a common element that set them apart. “But they were all diff erent. I could not say what made them 1 per cent.” Upset, Meller went to tell his partner about his project’s failure: “I cannot see what combines them all,” he confessed. “She, rather fl ippantly said, ‘Well, you’re asking the wrong questions.’ The next night, I went up and I decided not to look at the walls, but just to look at my questions.” After pondering all the things that made the artists who they were—education, wealth or nationality—Meller turned to their audiences. That’s where he fi nally found a connection: every single artist was reacting to a fundamental societal change. For Turner and Constable, it was the rise of the fi rst industrial revolution. In Warhol’s time, it was consumerism and the rise of the factories in America. “Their genius was not doing artworks that wowed everybody,” Meller adds. “Their genius was being able to feel what society was worried about.” What is society worried about today? Meller’s research eventually led him towards artifi cial intelligence. One day, his son showed him a Lego fi gure of a robot, and everything clicked. “It was the most amazing moment,” he says, recalling the day he decided to create an AI robot that could create artworks, their mere existence being a commentary on the rise of technology. “People are worried about technology, they’re worried about robots, they’re worried about artificial intelligence,” Meller says. “Ai-Da addresses all of that.” $1.08M The amount Ai-Da’s latest painting sold for / Ai-Da in Oxford Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 45Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 4503/07/2025 15:2803/07/2025 15:28FEATURE 46 EDGE | July-August 2025 BUILDING AI-DA Unlike Dall-E or Midjourney, which create images through reproductions of data they have been trained on, Ai-Da physically paints, paintbrushes and all. “The reality is that she does most of the artwork from sight,” Meller stresses. However, bringing her to life was no easy task. “It was challenging, because it had never been done before, and so there was nowhere we could go to get the answers,” the gallerist says. “We had to fi ght the answers within ourselves. And so, we did.” In collaboration with companies and universities, Ai-Da was eventually built. The hardware was created alongside Engineered Arts. The graphics algorithms that allow it to draw were developed by computer AI researchers at the University of Oxford. The images that she uses are taken from cameras in her eyes and analysed through her computer vision. The actual paintings are then made with her robotic arms, designed by students from the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Leeds and mobilised through a custom control system that directs her brushstrokes. Since her fi rst appearance, she was an instant hit. “We launched Ai-Da, and it’s been overwhelmed ever since,” Meller says. “Everybody thought it was a crazy idea. Now, everybody’s interested.” ART OR ALGORITHM? In the time since Ai-Da was created, conversations about generative algorithms have taken over the tech world. OpenAI’s ChatGPT has disrupted every form of content creation and led to many companies and individuals incorporating the technology into their daily routines, while painters, writers and designers are protesting the intellectual property violations that come with the use of their creations for algorithmic training. Ai-Da stands at this crossroads, as both an artist and a robot. “When the AI boom came, she was already there,” Meller says. However, despite the technological breakthrough that Ai-Da embodies, his creator views her more as an artist and the embodiment of a societal dilemma than as a machine. People are worried about technology, they’re worried about robots, they’re worried about aryti. Ai-Da addresses all of that / Ai-Da’s “Algorithmic Queen” / Ai-Da at No.10 Downing Street Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 46Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 4603/07/2025 11:3103/07/2025 11:31FEATURE EDGE | July-August 2025 47 “We want to raise ethical questions about our society today,” Meler stresses. “Everything that Ai-Da does is getting into an area that is unresolved, that is problematic, that is diffi cult; and she’s raising in her artwork questions that we all have to deal with when using technology.” Although Ai-Da does rely on some generative AI tools, the majority of her work is inspired by what she sees, and all of it exists physically. In light of discussions around genAI and IP, Meller inmediately responds: “No artist is being ripped off .” LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE In the time since Algorithms are, by defi nition, invisible, intangible. Ai-Da isn’t. It is perhaps the robot’s ability to interact with humans—speak with them, make paintings of them—that has captured the world’s attention. Her address to the UK Parliament gave way to an intense debate regarding the role of AI in society. In a way, she is the closest we have to a physical embodiment of the technology that is ever-present in today’s world, one we can interact with without the need for computer screens. “Ai-Da is a mirror of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Meller declares. “The artworks that Ai-Da creates are raising questions about where we might go.” Ai-Da has clearly demonstrated the ability to make art. Moreover, her works are proof of the extent to which the lines between humans and machines are being blurred more and more every day. When asked about Ai-Da having feelings, Meller is adamant she does not, but doesn’t completely close the door to a future where she might: “One day, who knows?” / AI painting Art is a skill. If it’s a skill, a machine can learn it / Ai-Da at the UK’s House of Lords Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 47Edge_July2025_42-47_AI-DA ROBOT ARTIST_13641806.indd 4703/07/2025 11:3103/07/2025 11:31GADGETS 48 EDGE | July-August 2025 It is a powerful pair of AI-driven smart glasses blending high-performance technology with iconic design Oakley and Meta unveiled the Oakley Meta HSTN, a new line of AI-powered smart glasses aimed at transforming how athletes and fans experience the world on and off the fi eld. For nearly fi ve decades, Oakley has been at the forefront of sports innovation, pushing boundaries with futuristic design and performance-driven products. Now, the brand takes a bold leap into wearable technology by teaming up with Meta to create a new category of performance AI glasses. The Oakley Meta HSTN—pronounced “How-stuhn”—marks the fi rst product in this revolutionary lineup. Combining Oakley’s distinctive design language with Meta’s intelligent hardware, the glasses off er a fully hands-free experience. Users can capture ultra-high-defi nition 3K video directly from their point of view, streamlining content creation whether on the golf course, at the skate park, or simply navigating everyday life. Equipped with powerful open-ear speakers, the glasses allow wearers to listen to music, take calls, or follow podcasts seamlessly, all without blocking out the ambient sounds crucial for sports or outdoor activity. The device is built to endure tough conditions, featuring an IPX4 water resistance rating that holds up against sweat and light rain. One of the standout features is the integration of Meta AI, a built-in personal assistant designed to respond to voice commands. Whether it’s asking for weather updates before a surf session or checking wind speeds mid-golf round, users can access real-time information simply by saying, “Hey Meta.” The AI also allows for eff ortless content sharing— capturing photos or videos and instantly posting them to social media, completely hands-free. Performance meets practicality with battery life that lasts up to eight hours of active use and extends to 19 hours on standby. A portable charging case provides an additional 48 hours of on-the-go power, ensuring the glasses are ready for extended adventures. The launch is accompanied by a global campaign featuring sports icons Kylian Mbappé and Patrick Mahomes, both part of Team Oakley. This collaboration signals not just a product release but the beginning of a new era where technology becomes an invisible but indispensable part of athletic performance and personal storytelling. OAKLEY AND META LAUNCH AI GLASSES FOR ATHLETES SMARTGLASS The Oakley Meta HSTN is pronounced “How-stuhn” Edge_July2025_48-49_Gadgets_13651351.indd 48Edge_July2025_48-49_Gadgets_13651351.indd 4803/07/2025 11:3203/07/2025 11:32GADGETS EDGE | July-August 2025 49 The latest console upgrade blends visuals, innovative controls, and seamless connectivity to redefi ne portable and home gaming Nintendo has offi cially launched the Switch 2, marking a signifi cant leap forward in hybrid gaming technology. Available globally, the new console off ers a suite of enhancements that cater to both casual gamers and dedicated fans. Backward Compatibility and Expanded Game Library T h e Sw i tc h 2 i s backward compatible with most Nintendo Sw i t c h g a m e s , both physically and digitally. Additionally, it i n trod u ce s th e “Nintendo Classics” librar y, of fering a selection of GameCube titles, and supports enhanced versions of existing games with improved graphics and performance. Improved Performance and Storage Powered by a custom Nvidia Tegra T239 processor, the Switch 2 off ers enhanced performance. It comes with 256GB of internal storage and supports microSD Express cards up to 2TB, providing ample space for games and content. Integrated Voice and Video Communication GameChat enables players to voice chat, share their game screen, and connect via video chat while playing. Redesigned Joy-Con 2 Controllers The new Joy-Con 2 controllers feature magnetic connectors for easy attachment and detachment. They also include a mouse sensor, allowing them to function as a computer mouse in compatible games. NINTENDO SWITCH 2: THE NEXT LEVEL OF HYBRID GAMING GAMING Enhanced Display and Graphics The Switch 2 boasts a 7.9 -inch LCD touchscreen with a 1080p resolution, supporting HDR10 and a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz. When docked, it can output up to 4K resolution at 60Hz. Edge_July2025_48-49_Gadgets_13651351.indd 49Edge_July2025_48-49_Gadgets_13651351.indd 4903/07/2025 11:3203/07/2025 11:32Next >