Bengaluru Techie’s AI Roommate Caught Cook Stealing Food

A Bengaluru tech worker named Pankaj Tanwar’s experiment with artificial intelligence sparked a debate online after he used a home-built “AI roommate” to monitor activity in his kitchen. It tracked the behaviour of his cook for nearly two weeks and generated detailed reports about what happened inside the room. 

The techie, who shared screenshots of the bot’s logs on social media platform X, said he installed the system after noticing fruits missing from his fridge. 

Here’s what happened.

How Does the AI ‘Roommate’ Work?

The system worked like a digital observer placed inside the kitchen. A camera recorded activity while an AI model analysed what it saw. 

Instead of watching hours of video recordings, the bot summarised the activity and sent notifications.

The techie said the AI tracked several actions. It monitored when the cook entered the kitchen, how often she opened the fridge, whether she washed her hands before cooking and how long she spent preparing food. 

The bot then produced daily updates and weekly reports describing the activity.

If it detected something unusual, such as someone taking items from the fridge, it could send alerts to the user’s phone.

The techie described the tool as a “rough” but useful early version that already noticed patterns he would have otherwise missed.

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What the AI Observed

Screenshots of the AI bot’s messages showed highly detailed observations. In one entry, the bot recorded the cook entering the kitchen and immediately opening the fridge. It reported that she stood there briefly before taking two apples and placing them in her bag.

Another log described the cooking process. The system noted that the cook prepared food for 47 minutes and washed her hands twice during that period. 

However, it also flagged hygiene issues. According to the report, she touched the dustbin lid and scratched her nose before rolling chapatis without washing her hands again.

In a weekly summary, the AI bot highlighted patterns it detected over several days. 

The report said the cook opened the fridge four times before starting to cook during the week. It also claimed that three apples and a banana went missing and that the cook was seen eating blueberries near the fridge.

The bot also tracked cleaning habits. It said the kitchen slabs were wiped seven times but only in visible areas. According to the report, the space behind the stove had not been cleaned since Monday.

The AI system also recorded the cooking time each day. The reports suggested the cook usually finished cooking in under 35 minutes.

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What Was The Reason Behind This

The techie said he deployed the system after suspecting that food was disappearing from the fridge. 

When other users questioned the decision to monitor the cook, he responded that he had already spoken to her about the issue twice.

He said he did not object if she asked to take food, but he did not want items removed without permission.

According to his posts, the cook was paid Rs. 4,800 a month and had been working at his home before the AI monitoring began.

After the system reported two incidents of food being taken in the same week, the techie said he dismissed her from the job.

The Cook Knew About the Camera

The techie explained that the device had already been installed in the kitchen earlier. 

He said the cook initially changed her behaviour after noticing the device. Over time, he believed she assumed no one would review hours of recorded footage and returned to her previous habits. 

The AI bot’s automatic reports allowed him to monitor activity without watching the entire recording.

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Not His First AI Experiment

This is not the techie’s first AI project.

Earlier this year, he built an AI-powered helmet designed to detect traffic rule violations. The helmet used a camera and software to record violations and automatically send evidence to the Bengaluru Police.

The project later drew attention from authorities, who contacted him to understand how the system worked.

His latest project, the AI roommate, also included additional features beyond kitchen monitoring. According to the techie, the system can also adjust the fan speed in his room at night while he sleeps.

He said he plans to expand the tool further by adding gas leak detection and tracking how long people stayed idle in the kitchen.