I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 4:29 PM UTC

yreg wrote: post #134

malfist wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure six shots are 550 calories. But who drinks six shots of gin? You need to also include all the mixers as well and they're usually all sugar

> But who drinks six shots of gin? Haha, I'm from almost-eastern-europe, so pretty much all drinkers I know. (Actually "Borovička" is the most popular. It is not gin, but somewhat similar to gin.) But I mean, when someone is trying to reduce calorie intake, they don't consume whatever they want to. They need to make some concessions. So instead of a fancy cocktail or a bottle of wine, you can drink some vodka (provid…

Post by mapt » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 4:36 PM UTC

jonplackett wrote: post #114

gavinray wrote: post #103

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I have faith that ML can approximate calories from images under the following conditions: - The food is inside containers of a standard size, which the model can use as a volumetric reference - Optimally, the containers are clear plastic, for depth approximation - The food is homogenous, or mostly-homogenous. Dishes containing a lot of mixed ingredients seem like an intractable problem to me Now, whether or not abili…

So here’s why that ain’t true. Yoghurt. You can buy zero fat Greek yogurt that has very low sugar. It’s perfect for losing weight. It’s about 50kcals per 100g. And also super high in protein. Or you can buy yoghurt that is full of sugar and is 100kcals per 100g and has lots of fat and hardly any protein. Even a human expert could not tell the difference without tasting them. This is just one example of many.

Post by jablongo » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 4:49 PM UTC

Post by libraryatnight » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 4:53 PM UTC

dack wrote: post #91

Calorie tracking is also about educating yourself about how many calories certain things are, so you can make better decisions. Like, oil is insanely caloric and can accidentally add hundreds of calories, but it's nearly impossible to eat too many greens. Once you learn this, then the tracking is just to keep you honest - your brain knows what to do but it lies to you when it wants to bend the rules and those little…

Post by hooverd » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 5:03 PM UTC

jaynetics wrote: post #154

echelon wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That or maybe everyone will just except things being slightly more convenient but worse. This is how it will play out. You'll see it in the cost centers. You'll see it in the "I have an idea for an app" pitches. Business people will make these decisions, and consumers will too. { High convenience, High quality, Low cost } - pick two. Software engineering won't evaporate, but there's something new competing with it.

Yeah. I think the analogy with electrical wiring is quite illuminating. Few software errors have a similar risk profile as faulty wiring. Maybe if a calendar or messenger or such is buggy, that's enough of a nuisance to switch, but I doubt a lot of software is this critical. People already put up with plenty of bugs e.g. in games or social networks. Even with paid software, I'm sometimes surprised how much patience c…