I think this is so amazing that the AI can view the handwritten text of a recipe and interpret it correctly into digitized text. *Also further below, see how AI took a table of foods that provide Beta Carotene, and easily sorted it for me.
GEMINI says:
This image is a scanned page from a book, likely a cookbook, featuring a recipe for “Shrimp Bisque.” The page number “30” is at the top left.
The ingredients listed are:
- 1 qt. milk
- 1 pt. cream (an extra 1/2 pt. whipped and added with a sprig of parsley to each bowl when served)
- 1/4 lb. butter
- 4 slightly rounded tbsp White Lily flour
- 1 can Campbell’s Tomato Soup – 1 1/2 lbs. cooked shrimp or 3 lbs. raw shrimp (the raw shrimp preferred where cooked 20 min. in highly seasoned water)
- 2 cups La Rosa sherry wine
- 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- Salt and Tabasco to taste
The instructions are: “Melt butter and add flour – cook 5 minutes. When smooth – add milk. Then tomato soup, then cream. Add shrimp. Ten minutes before serving, add sherry, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. After shrimp has been added – do not cook – just keep hot. Serves 10.”
The recipe is attributed to “Mrs. Temple Seibels.”
How AI:ChatGPT took a table of foods that provide Beta Carotene, and easily sorted it for me from the one providing the most mg to the least mg. *I bought this book, “Eat Well, Stay Well,” at “the Friends of the Cumberland County Library” Book Sale last week, so it might have cost $1.
I looked at the following table and was pleasantly surprised that both Dried Apricots and Raw Sweet Potato had high mg values for providing Beta Carotene, but I then thought, “This table would be much more useful if the largest providers were listed at the top, and the least at the bottom, so I took a picture of the table, and uploaded to both Gemini and ChatGPT, but ChatGPT was the sharper tool. See it’s response below:
BETA CAROTENE
Beta carotene is a red-orange pigment found in many plants and fruits, particularly carrots. The human body converts beta carotene into vitamin A (retinol), an essential nutrient for vision, immune function, and skin health. It is also an antioxidant, which helps protect cells from damage.
Foods sorted by their Beta Carotene content, from highest to lowest.
| Food | Beta Carotene (mg) | % of Daily Requirement |
| Sweet Potato, raw (1 medium) | 11.6 | 120.83% |
| Apricots, dried (½ cup) | 11.2 | 116.67% |
| Carrots, raw (2 medium) | 6.4 | 66.67% |
| Apricots, fresh (3 medium) | 3.7 | 38.54% |
| Pumpkin, fresh, raw (1 cup diced) | 3.6 | 37.5% |
| Watercress, raw (2 cups chopped) | 2.8 | 29.17% |
| Winter Squash, raw (1 cup cubes) | 2.8 | 29.17% |
| Spinach, raw (1 cup chopped) | 2.6 | 27.08% |
| Swiss Chard, raw (1 cup chopped) | 2.6 | 27.08% |
| Kale, raw (1 cup chopped) | 2.2 | 22.92% |
| Collard Greens, raw (1 cup chopped) | 1.8 | 18.75% |
| Cantaloupe (1 cup diced) | 1.3 | 13.54% |
| Mango (1 cup sliced) | 1.2 | 12.5% |
| Broccoli, raw (1 cup florets) | 0.7 | 7.29% |
Would you like me to also calculate what percentage of the daily recommended Vitamin A these amounts provide?
I first tried to copy an HTML Table that the AI had created for me into this page, but it didn’t work well, so I asked for an image of the above table and imported that into the page.
The AI pointed out that both sweet potatoes and dried apricots both provided more than the recommended daily allowance.
***The original table image was sideways, and the AI read it with no problem, but I then reversed the text and it was still able to read the reversed text. It even made the comparison like reading text in a mirror. Wow, that’s a powerful tool. And at the top, it can read handwritten text.
DIETARY FIBER
Dietary fiber, or roughage, is a type of carbohydrate that the body cannot digest. It passes through the digestive system relatively intact. There are two main types: soluble fiber, which dissolves in water and can help lower blood sugar and cholesterol, and insoluble fiber, which adds bulk to stool and promotes regular bowel movements. Fiber is found in plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and nuts.
Based on an average recommended daily fiber intake of 28 grams for adults, I have added a new column showing the percentage of that daily value provided by each food item.
| Food | Amount | Dietary Fiber (g) | Percentage of Daily Value (%) |
| Lentils, cooked | 1 cup | 16 | 57.1 |
| Figs, dried | ½ cup | 12 | 42.9 |
| Kidney beans, cooked | 1 cup | 11 | 39.3 |
| Barley, pearled, cooked | 1 cup | 7 | 25.0 |
| Blackberries, fresh | 1 cup | 7 | 25.0 |
| Potato, baked, with skin | 1 medium | 7 | 25.0 |
| Apple, with skin | 1 large | 6 | 21.4 |
| Artichoke | 1 medium | 6 | 21.4 |
| Prunes | ½ cup | 6 | 21.4 |
| Split peas, cooked | ½ cup | 6 | 21.4 |
| Wheat bran | ¼ cup | 6 | 21.4 |
| Winter squash, baked | 1 cup cubes | 6 | 21.4 |
| Brown rice, cooked | 1 cup | 4 | 14.3 |
| Oatmeal, cooked | 1 cup | 4 | 14.3 |
| Pear, with skin | 1 medium | 4 | 14.3 |
| Wheat germ | ¼ cup | 4 | 14.3 |
FOLATE
Folate, also known as vitamin B9, is a water-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in many foods. It is essential for a variety of bodily functions, including cell growth and division, DNA synthesis and repair, and the formation of red blood cells. A deficiency in folate can lead to anemia.
Good Sources of Folate
| Food | Amount | Folate (mcg) | % Daily Requirement |
| Lentils, cooked | 1 cup | 358 | 89.5% |
| Pinto Beans, cooked | 1 cup | 294 | 73.5% |
| Chick-peas, cooked | 1 cup | 282 | 70.5% |
| Romaine Lettuce | 2 cups shredded | 152 | 38.0% |
| Spinach, cooked | 1/2 cup | 131.5 | 32.9% |
| Artichoke, cooked | 1 medium | 131 | 32.8% |
| Spinach, raw | 2 cups | 117 | 29.3% |
| Green peas, fresh, cooked | 1 cup | 101 | 25.3% |
| Brussels sprouts, cooked | 1 cup | 94 | 23.5% |
| Wheat germ | 1/4 cup | 81 | 20.3% |
| Broccoli, sprouted | 3/4 cup | 78 | 19.5% |
| Broccoli, cooked | 1 cup chopped | 78 | 19.5% |
| Orange juice, fresh | 1 cup | 75 | 18.8% |
| Peanuts, raw | 1 ounce | 68 | 17.0% |
| Asparagus, cooked | 1 cup pieces | 61 | 15.3% |
| Avocado | 1/2 medium | 57 | 14.3% |
| Blackberries, fresh | 1 cup | 49 | 12.3% |
| Wild rice, cooked | 1 cup | 43 | 10.8% |
09/09/25: I was coming back today from Goldsboro, North Carolina and at some point I asked the AI (Gemini) on my phone how far away I was from Newton Grove. It told me 20 miles. I thought this was further than I had expected, but didn’t question the AI. But a short time later (maybe only 3 miles) I came upon a highway sign that said Newton Grove was 10 miles away. I knew I hadn’t gone 10 miles in that short of a time, but maybe 3 miles. So I asked Gemini again, how far I was from Newton Grove. It answered again, “20 miles.” I now had enough doubt in the AI’s correctness that I explored further. Eventually, it suggested a community that I was in and at some point it suggested that the community I was in was in MA (Massachussets). I told it, that there was no way that any location in MA was only 20 miles away from Newton Grove, North Carolina.
Eventually I made it to the city limits of Newton Grove and I just had to check one more time. The AI now told be it couldn’t determine how far I was from Newton Grove. Sometimes an AI, especially Gemini can be as thick as a brick. The problem though is that an AI will state something that is completely wrong and if you are unaware, you may act on this erroneous information. Sometimes the AI can’t even add simple numbers. I’ve had it fail several times regarding where I was located. And recall I actually had Gemini argue that Joe Biden was the current President of the United States, and this was well past January 20th of 2025. One it bases it’s truths on faulty info, you just can’t get it to the correct solution.
Bill Gibson, II 