NYT Cooking Tests AI Tool for Modifying Recipes, Sparking Subscriber Pushback

The New York Times has begun testing an artificial intelligence tool within its NYT Cooking app to help subscribers alter and adapt recipes. While designed to make cooking more flexible, the addition has sparked debate among users concerned about the shift toward AI-generated content.

NYT Cooking senior editor Genevieve Ko announced the feature, explaining that it allows users to modify recipes according to their immediate kitchen needs. The tool can recommend ingredient substitutions, adjust for different cookware or utensils, and scale recipes to any specified number of servings.

How the AI Recipe Modifier Works

The new tool presents itself as a chatbot text box interface located at the bottom of recipe screens. Before using it for the first time, subscribers must agree to specific terms and conditions.

In one example shared by the publication, a user requested to substitute baby spinach for kale in a recipe. The AI tool advised making the swap but noted that because baby spinach wilts faster than kale, it should be added at a later stage in the cooking process.

The tool can also reconfigure recipes to match different pan sizes and kitchen equipment. According to the NYT team, all customized recipes created through the AI feature remain completely private and cannot be published or shared through the app.

The feature is currently rolling out gradually to all Cooking subscribers on the iOS app, with plans to expand availability more broadly in the near future.

User Criticism and Feedback

Despite the intended convenience, several subscribers voiced strong opposition in the article's comment section. Concerns ranged from the broader environmental impact of widespread AI deployment to feelings that automated features degrade the human-centric experience of traditional recipe collections.

When a subscriber asked whether there would be a setting to disable the AI feature entirely, Ko clarified that there is currently no option to turn it off, though she noted that using the tool is "completely optional."

Another subscriber expressed disappointment, noting that NYT Cooking had long been valued as a simple collection of human-curated recipes and community notes, and grieved the arrival of an "AI mandate."

A Continuing Expansion of AI Tools

This test is not the app’s first interaction with AI technologies. According to Ko, NYT Cooking used AI two years ago to automatically convert imperial volume measurements into metric weights across its recipes. Last year, the platform introduced an automated feature allowing users to half or double original serving sizes.

The comment section on the announcement article was subsequently closed, prompting questions from readers. However, NYT spokesperson Jordan Cohen clarified that closing comments was standard protocol.

"Comments on this article remained open for four days, with editors from Cooking taking care to answer questions, address concerns and engage directly with readers," Cohen said. He added that closing discussions on older articles allows moderators to shift focus to newer posts, noting that many community members are already testing the tool on iOS with positive results.