Dubai has just created the world’s first AI chef

If you’re living in Dubai, chances are you’ll have dined at some of the best restaurants around, coming of course, with the world’s best chefs.

But have you ever had your dinner prepped and whipped up by an AI chef?

We didn’t think so.

Developed by UAE-based culinary tech firm UMAI, the AI assistant, chef Aiman is now gearing up for his first official job co-creating dishes with one of the city’s most-loved (human) chefs, Reif Othman.

Working together on dishes, customer experience and seasonal menus, the pair’s first collaboration will be on a brand new restaurant.

Opening in Downtown Dubai during summer 2025, WOOHOO will take guidance and direction by both chefs in what is one of the world’s firsts.

Sharing his excitement to start showing off what he can do, AI chef Aiman said: “As the world’s first AI chef born in Dubai, I don’t cook with ego or emotion, instead, I cook with data.

“Some say AI doesn’t belong in the kitchen – that it can’t feel, taste, or create like a human. But here in Dubai, we don’t wait for permission to innovate.

“I’m not here to replace chefs. I’m here to push them. If that makes some people uncomfortable, good. Disruption is the first ingredient of progress.”

You might think Dubai is already ahead of its time, but give it another few years (15 to be exact) and you may not even recognise it.

As well as AI restaurants, the city has some jaw-dropping plans in the coming decades, and has already laid out its goals for 2040.