Can Artificial Intelligence Make Your Next Beer?

It is no a secret that all tea and no play makes Englishman a dull boy. Beer has a rich tradition in England, as well. Currently, a small startup IntelligentX from London is trying to add its own twist to beer-making history. The company has developed a complex algorithm that determines the amount of hops, water, yeast and grain that should go into each beer. An English company is cooperating with machine learning startup Intelligent Layer and creative agency 10x.

An important part of this collaboration is gaining an extended customer feedback. That’s why every bottle’s label lists a website where people can go to answer questions about what was good or bad about the brew. Levels of carbonation, bitterness and alcohol content all change based on how people are responding. The algorithm uses this customer feedback data, which is provided via a Facebook Messenger bot, to tell IntelligentX’s master brewer what to brew next.

“There are too many brands out there that just have one recipe for a beer, and they’ve had it for 60 years,” said Hew Leith, co-founder of IntelligentX, the maker of the beer appropriately named AI. “We’re not about that. We’re about using data to listen to our customers, get all that feedback, and then brew something that’s more attuned to what they want and needs.”

Leith notices customers also could someday give feedback on products like coffee, chocolate or perfume. Thus, it seems in the future not only beer might be made by Artificial Intelligence.