There will be people delighted by the idea of an AI bot that can help us eat more healthily, but it’s probably not for everyone...

As we’ve noted before, the name of Scottish indie band ‘We Were Promised Jetpacks’ eloquently expresses a sense of disillusionment over a vision of a glorious future which never came to pass. If that was true when they began in the early 2000s, their sense of ennui must be reaching new heights with the latest news.

Apparently, Tesco’s relationship with customers will be ‘revolutionised’ by artificial intelligence, with a bot being programmed to use Clubcard data to warn us when we buy too much unhealthy food.

Ken Murphy, the supermarket chain’s boss, claimed this would “nudge” us towards better habits and even offered his own impersonation of the bot: “I’ve noticed over time in your shopping basket that your sodium salt content is 250 per cent of your daily recommended allowance. I would recommend you substitute this, this and this.” In other words, stop eating crisps all the time and have a lettuce once in a while, why don’t you?

Of course, it’ll probably be very useful for some. But we were promised jetpacks and instead we’re getting the NagBot 3000. Welcome to the future.

How an exciting future of jetpacks for all has been replaced by robots that nag us about our diet

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