Tasting is a matter of context. The same wine tasted at the same time in 43 different time zones by an equal number of participants is likely to be interpreted differently. Same product, same glass, same serving temperature. However, perceptions that can sometimes turn out to be diametrically opposed.
Now imagine the same scenario, with the difference that the tasting takes place this time with a black glass (used in geosensory tasting) instead of the usual transparent instrument. As any opportunity is good to advance the schmilblick, I recently took advantage – with the very involuntary participation of Hydro-Québec – of 78 hours confined in an inky black to take my black glass out of the closet. Enlightening in more ways than one.
A text quoting the authors Boltanski and Thévenot (Of justification. The economies of scale) written by Professor Dany Baillargeon in the very last Devoir de philo went well in spite of me to orient my doubly blind tasting under new auspices in this famous black glass. Indeed, can the artificial intelligence (AI) in question in this last text interpret the wine contained in an opaque glass as a human would do, “without however being worthy of the investment specific to creation either: love, passion, worry, doubt, the desire to create”? It is permissible to doubt it.
Black glass c. AI
Let’s be clear: tasting a wine in a black glass is just as unfathomable as the mystery of the Virgin Mary, whether you are a human or a robot programmed by a human (himself probably already overwhelmed by his creation).
Let us once again forget visual perception, which, for the cerebral cortex, nevertheless accounts for 15 to 17% of the surface area linked to information. No visuals and no activated salivation mechanism, therefore, whether one is made of flesh or a much less carnal virtual entity. Equal count here, i.e. 0 to 0.
It thickens (or it simplifies) already a little more on the olfactory level. In his latest book, thousand vines (Hachette Vins), Pascaline Lepeltier argues that “we have 400 different, very sensitive olfactory receptors, which would be able to distinguish the contours of several billion odors”. Either. She goes on – and I summarize it for short – by explaining that the effluvia converge towards the olfactory epithelium, that they are encoded at the level of the olfactory bulb, then transmitted to the piriform cortex (responsible for olfactory perception and memory), where they are recognised.
A new count is necessary: 1 to 1. At this stage, human and robot ensure. The sequel, however, rushes things. Indeed, from the piriform cortex already mentioned, this recognition of odors passes through the orbitofrontal cortex — our multimodal integration center — which integrates it with other sensory dimensions to assign it a HEDONIC value (the capitals are mine) . Finally, again to quote Lepeltier, the information is also transmitted in parallel to the center of EMOTIONS, the amygdala, which generates an emotional response. To paraphrase Dany Baillargeon this time on ChatGPT, we oppose here AI seen as “the efficiency and performance of a methodical routine” to the “spontaneous, unpredictable springing up, which is experienced without measure” of the man made of flesh, bones and… passion. And to do the accounts: AI 1, human 2.
In terms of taste, it goes without saying that the AI and the human will be able to recognize the five basic flavors which are (for the moment) sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. An operation that still requires more than 3000 proteins generated by the salivary glands to visualize both the configuration of the tannins and their impact on this famous “mouth feel” which traces its profile. However, would AI be able to assess these famous thresholds of perception – eminently variable in humans, whether olfactory or gustatory -, while being infatuated with these precious balances that generate and bring out in humans neither more nor less than a real emotional firework?
What my black glass revealed when tasting this 2020 dry Vouvray from Philippe Foreau at Clos Naudin ($57.75 – 15095356 – (5+) © ★★★★) was confusing, even a robot. The latter will fall right on thiols (fermentation tastes) of the methionol or furfurylthiol type, esters (honey tastes) of the phenethyl acetate or ethyl vanillate type or even terpene compounds (citrus tastes) where linalool is close. and geraniol. A champion of precision, that this robot! As for the unrepentant hedonist that I am, like our great bard Daniel Bélanger, I simply felt the possibility of… dream better. Is the AI willing to do this? If it was – I mean if it was – the final count would be 2 to 2.
To be continued, because the match has only just begun!