[Exclusive Interview] This Device Uses ChatGPT To Make Cooking Super Easy & Productive

Recently, we interacted with Mohit Sharma, Co-founder of Up⤴, a unique startup that inspires and guides newbies to cook anything via guided recipes and automated processes.

Here ar the interview highlights:

1. Why did Up⤴ integrate ChatGPT into its smart cooking assistant and how is it going to alter the consumer experience with delishUp⤴?

Up⤴️ launched its smart cooking assistant to make cooking at home easy and reduce our reliance on ordering in food. The delishUp⤴️ is designed for people who don’t know how to cook or don’t want to cook regularly. The appliance’s Smart Jar not only can heat and cook food but it also automates chopping and stirring ingredients for a variety of dishes from gravies to one-pot meals. With 250+ guided recipes displayed on an interactive 8-inch touchscreen, owners only need to add ingredients as prompted to cook their meals. This drastically reduces the hassles of cooking for new cooks, with delishUp⤴️ doing everything from supporting in recipe selection and cutting ingredients to automating heating and stirring. 

Integration of ChatGPT with the delishUp⤴️ is a testament to upliance.ai’s (Up⤴️)  commitment to democratizing cooking and transforming Indian households into “smart” homes. By incorporating ChatGPT into the upliance, delishUp⤴️ has exponentially increased what one can accomplish in their kitchens.  Up⤴️AI with ChatGPT now has encompassing knowledge of food, ingredients and recipes and can make generative and responsive suggestions to all cooking prompts and needs. The smart cooking assistant aims to level up young Indians who are looking to cook more often at home, but don’t know how to cook or lack the time to do it everyday. 

2. How will ChatGPT enhance the user experience for customers?

Integration of ChatGPT on the delishUp⤴️ is changing how we interact with technology at home today. As users engage with delishUp⤴️ over time, with AI, it can better understand their cooking habits, dietary preferences, and ingredient choices, allowing it to provide more tailored recipe recommendations and cooking tips. Users can ask questions, make requests, and receive recommendations in a natural language format, which can make the cooking experience feel more personalized and engaging.

They can also experiment with creating new dishes with the Recipe Generator. They can use the generator to create unusual recipes like a Mushroom Sambar or an Avatar-themed pasta. Overall, the integration of ChatGPT into delishUp⤴️ can enhance the user experience by creating a more conversational and personalized cooking assistant that can not only learn from and adapt to each user’s preferences and needs but also make home cooking fun and engaging for users.

This integration has not only expanded what one could be eating at home every day but has also given owners the ability to customise and tailor these recipes according to their preferences or lifestyle. They can change ingredients, plan their meals and choose a healthy lifestyle by ditching ordering in or settling for packaged foods.

3. What are the Key Features of the integration?

Some of the key features of the integration of ChatGPT on the delishUp⤴️ are:

1. AI Chatbot Assistance: The AI powered “Up⤴️Bot” enables owners to seek cooking tips, receive assistance with modifying recipes during cooking and clarify doubts. The Up⤴️Bot can offer suggestions on customizing existing recipes on the upliance to suit dietary needs and preferences. Examples of customization include making recipes vegan, sugar-free and low calorie. 
2. Speech Recognition: Up⤴️bot has been trained to understand speech, enabling users to interact with the chatbot via voice commands and natural language. The chatbot can recognize English and a few Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and Marathi.
3. AI-Assisted Generative Recipes (Beta): In addition to the 200+ in-built recipes, owners can now also request any recipe they desire. Owners can generate trending recipes from social media or a recipe they have seen on their favourite cooking show, or request for a recipe with an unusual combination of ingredients, the delishUp⤴️ will generate a recipe for it. 

4. What are the Growth Projections for the brand and plans for the next 5 years

Up⤴️ aims to be in 1.5 lakh homes across the country by the end of the year, with a revenue target of INR 150 crores by FY25. The consumer appliance industry is a $30B industry in India with a 14% CAGR. We expect to capture 20% of this market over 8 years.

5. How is ChatGPT and AI transforming the F&B and Food Technology industry?

With Up⤴️ being one of the first startups to integrate ChatGPT into home appliances, we are leading the way in the sector.We expect Up⤴️’s AI integration to be a major driver of the growth of smart and connected technology in the home appliances industry in India. 

Historically, food automation and AI have been used by the F&B industry for quality checks and large-scale manufacturing. The food tech industry also largely caters to the B2B segment and their products can be seen in cloud kitchens and restaurants. 

Up⤴️ is bringing the AI & automation revolution to home kitchens and changing the way Indians are eating and cooking. The delishUp⤴️ has already helped hundreds of homes reduce their reliance on ordering in for their daily food. Empowering everyone at home to be able to cook is a game changer for the retail food industry.

About delishUp⤴️:

delishUp⤴️, India’s first smart cooking assistant, is making home cooking easier for young Indian homes. The appliance’s Smart Jar not only can heat and cook food but it also automates chopping and stirring ingredients for a variety of dishes from gravies to one-pot meals. With 250+ guided recipes displayed on an interactive 8-inch touchscreen, owners only need to add ingredients as prompted to cook their meals. This drastically reduces the hassles of cooking for new cooks, with delishUp⤴️ doing everything from supporting in recipe selection and cutting ingredients to automating heating and stirring. 

About Up⤴️:

Founded by IIT Bombay alumni, Mahek Mody, ex-Chief of Staff at Ather Energy and Mohit Sharma, ex-Head of Engineering at Chaayos, Up⤴️ designs and manufactures contemporary smart and connected consumer appliances. While working with Ather Energy, Mahek helped define the Ather 450x as a product and a platform. Mohit, Co-founder and CTO, was leading the engineering team at Chaayos. He helped the team at Chaayos build their own proprietary chai-making machines from scratch. Together they aim at enabling Indians  to level up their daily lives through innovative products which will transform the mundane into something special. Their first upliance, delishUp⤴️ began deliveries in January 2023 and is currently  priced at only INR 21,999. It  is the only Made in India AI enabled cooking assistant available for young Indian homes. Up⤴️ is heralding the shift to home cooking, even for those with no experience in the kitchen, and is inviting everyone to participate  in the experience, with a home trial at INR 499 in Bengaluru and virtual demos for other cities.