San Sebastian Gastronomika - Euskadi Basque Country 2024 will open its doors next Monday, 7th October, for its 26th edition, with a congress that will have many new features. One of them is the Artificial Intelligence Challenge, in the presence of one of the world's most creative chefs, Ricard Camarena. The first major challenge between human and artificial intelligence in a live gastronomy congress. Camarena, one of today's great references in haute cuisine, will face off against an AI designed to create innovative recipes and directed from the scientific world by physicist Eneko Axpe (NASA collaborator and Harvard professor), who will contribute his knowledge and talent in the study and application of new technologies. 

Both will have the same rules and the same main ingredients and guidelines to create a three-course menu, but with a crucial difference: while Camarena will apply his vast experience, knowledge and creative capacity, the AI dishes will be executed by Daniel Barrionuevo, chef and researcher at Alícia, and Laia Badal, scientist and researcher at the Foundation, who will follow step by step the guidelines and instructions generated by the machine under the direction of Eneko Axpe. The challenge will be presented on Monday, the first day of San Sebastian Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country 2024, and both the AI and Ricard Camarena will have 24 hours to work on the creative process of their creations, which they will perform live on stage at the Kursaal during the Tuesday session.

The aim of the challenge is to explore the extent to which creativity and culinary technique, long considered the exclusive domain of humans, can be replicated or even surpassed by artificial intelligence. The AI, trained on millions of recipes and culinary data, will offer an analytical and precise vision in the preparation of food