Episode 49: Applications of AI Part One with Jorge Hernandez

This episode of Food to Go is brought to you by Merck Life Science. To learn more about how Merck can help you maintain high standards of safety and quality, visit https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/GB/en/foodtestinghero 

In an exciting new episode of Food To Go, Josh and Grace sit down with Jorge Hernandez, Quality Assurance VP at The Wendy’s Company to discuss whether AI will ever replace humans when it comes to food safety control.

Here, Hernandez explains that The Wendy’s Company has been utilising AI for three years as a way to combine data and predict potential food safety issues before they arise. 

In a world where AI is constantly evolving, the hosts pick Hernandez’s brains to find out how AI can be used as an effective tool, especially in restaurant chains as large as Wendy’s. 

Joshua Minchin (JM): Have you faced skepticism from colleagues when discussing the implementation of AI?

Jorge Hernandez (JH): We’re at the beginning of the journey, but we’ve been on this journey for about three years now and I don’t have the ultimate solution that a lot of people are expecting.

They are getting frustrated, saying “this is not going to work”. No, it’s working. We’re learning and we’ll keep learning and adapting as we go. It’s not a one size fits all. You can’t push a button and everything happens overnight, especially as food safety and quality seems to be a little bit behind other industries such as pharmaceuticals, cars, automotive industries.

When I come into my own world, I do find that there are some people who want to solve it overnight…I need somebody who’s committed to AI and understanding it to know that we are going to learn together and become better over time, not overnight.

JM: How much responsibility do you give the machine?

JH: That is a very interesting question and one that comes up often, especially when we talk internally. Are we trying to replace people? This is my personal opinion: I don’t think so. I think the future will still need people. Remember we are using data, we are using models. At the end of the day, I still want a person to be able to make those decisions.

 I don’t think the machines, at least not in my lifetime, will be able to get to what I do. I don’t see this type of technology replacing people, but I do see people who don’t use or understand the technology being replaced by people who understand the technology and know how to use it in a better way.

Join us as we explore the cutting-edge advancements and real-world applications of AI in the realm of food safety control.