Project description
Cooking up trust in AI to cut household food waste
Europeans discard thousands of metric tonnes of edible food waste annually. AI-generated recipe recommendations might be useful in reversing this trend. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the GASTRO-X project aims to create a nudging strategy that improves generative AI recipes through the integration of sensory components such as descriptive text, imagery and audio to make them more natural and authentic. This initiative combines behavioural studies, AI benchmarking and prototype creation to achieve its goals through the incorporation of gastrophysics, behavioural economics and human-computer interaction into the study to promote environmentally friendly behaviour and use of AI-enabled sustainability tools.
Objective
"Household food waste is a major environmental and economic challenge in the EU, with domestic kitchens being the largest source. Despite widespread public concern, a significant ""intention-action gap"" prevents most citizens from adopting more sustainable behaviours. Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) offers a promising solution by creating personalised recipes to minimise waste, but its effectiveness is critically undermined by a lack of consumer trust in its outputs.
The GASTRO-X project will tackle this trust deficit by developing and validating a novel “crossmodal nudging” framework. Drawing on principles from gastrophysics, the project will systematically enhance AI-generated recipes with vivid sensory cues—using descriptive language, imagery, and sound—to make them feel more authentic and appealing. By increasing the perceived naturalness of the AI’s suggestions, we aim to strengthen user trust, accelerate the adoption of GAI-powered sustainability tools, and ultimately reduce food waste at the household level. The framework is designed to be highly adaptable and could be extended to promote other desirable behaviours, such as healthier eating.
The project uses a mixed-methods approach, combining GAI performance benchmarking, large-scale online behavioural experiments, and the development of an open-source prototype. This research is fundamentally interdisciplinary, integrating insights from sensory science, behavioural economics, and human-computer interaction.
The fellowship will be hosted at the University of Oxford’s world-leading Crossmodal Research Laboratory under the supervision of its director, Professor Charles Spence, a global pioneer in gastrophysics.
This fellowship will provide the essential project leadership experience, high-impact training, and international network required to launch my independent academic career and secure a future tenure-track position."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence generative artificial intelligence
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
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