Imagine if you had the ability to learn every possible taste combination and cuisine style in the world – from the traditional to the wacky. What weird and wonderful culinary delight would you create?

Meet Watson – a cognitive computing platform, developed by IBM. Watson is very unique. Unlike other computing systems Watson has the ability to observe, evaluate, interpret and learn information through human interaction.

In 2012, IBM paired up with New York’s prestigious Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) to do something that had never been done before – create a computational, creative virtual chef.

Watson was first trained on the chemical composition of food using tens of thousands of recipes. It was then taught to master the flavours and ingredients that complement each other in food pairings. Finally Watson was programmed to produce novel food combinations that had not yet been tasted. And thus, Chef Watson was born.

Today Chef Watson is changing the way we think about and food and is a tool used by some of the world’s top chefs. Simon Gault, TV Personality and Celebrity Chef has been using IBM Watson’s analytical approach to creativity for some time. Check out the video below to see cognitive cooking in action as Simon collaborates with Watson on a banquet of unique flavour pairings.

In Simon’s words:

“There are things Chef Watson comes up with that really push the boundaries – things I hadn’t ever thought of before.”

Simon Gault will be a guest speaker at the upcoming Certus Accelerate event. Register for your chance to learn how cognitive computing is revolutionising the cooking industry, and taste some of Chef Watson’s creations yourself.