When AI Stops To Smell The Roses (Part 2/2): Futuristic Applications Of Smelling Machines

Welcome to this week’s Deep-Fried Dive with Fry Guy! In these long-form articles, Fry Guy conducts in-depth analyses of cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) developments and developers. Today, Fry Guy dives into AI’s emerging sense of smell (Part 2/2). We hope you enjoy!

*Notice: We do not receive any monetary compensation from the people and projects we feature in the Sunday Deep-Fried Dives with Fry Guy. We explore these projects and developers solely to showcase interesting and cutting-edge AI developments and uses.*

What happens when machines start sniffing? In Part 1, we showed how society is already beginning to witness the early stages of AI-powered olfaction in healthcare, safety, and digital scent reproduction. But if we let our imaginations roam a little, the possibilities for this technology get downright wild. Once computers can reliably identify, interpret, and recreate scents, the applications are endless. Let’s explore eight of these futuristic implications together!

1. SCENT-BASED SEARCH ENGINES

Forget about searching text, images, or even videos on Google’s AI Mode—it may soon be time to search smells. Google Images? What about Google Odors? Imagine a smell database where you could input an aroma you encounter in the real world (via a handheld e-nose or smart wearable) and get instant results: “This is a mix of vetiver, sandalwood, and synthetic musk used in Dior Sauvage.” Or even, “This scent is characteristic of mold growth under old wallpaper.” Smell may become searchable, taggable, and indexable. Want to know what a certain cocktail smells like? Search for the smell; you won’t only get a text description—you’ll get to sniff it for yourself!

2. SCENT-ENHANCED ENTERTAINMENT

Gaming and movies are people’s biggest pastimes, but they have forever focused on visuals and sound. But smell could be the next sensory leap. Imagine playing a survival game where smoke, forest earth, or gunpowder waft from your headset at the right moment. Horror games might release a faint coppery tang of blood or musty basements. Or, imagine watching a football movie where you can smell the grass and the sweat on the players (cool or gross?). AI would be essential here to help users control their experiences. Not only would it control scent timing and intensity, but it could also personalize smells to your preferences or comfort level. If you hate the smell of gasoline, your racing game could swap it out for a neutral rubber scent, or you could turn it off entirely. AI could even generate synthetic, fictional odors for alien planets or magical realms. No longer would games and TV be limited to visual and audio components—you might also choose which movie you want to watch based on how it smells!

3. SMELL-AS-A-SERVICE (SaaS)

In the same way Spotify recommends songs or Netflix recommends shows, future smell platforms could recommend personalized scent profiles. Maybe your smartwatch notices you’re stressed and suggests a combination of lavender and citrus to help you calm down. A scent diffuser at your desk adjusts its output based on your meeting schedule or circadian rhythm.

Taking it further, subscription-based “smell packs” could let users download and diffuse weekly curated blends: productivity boosters, romantic atmospheres, nostalgic 90s childhood smells, and more. Think of it as a way to optimize your lifestyle based on your activities. College kids might not only be walking around campus listening to music, but also taking in their favorite smells. This could be an entirely new industry!

4. SOCIAL NETWORKS AND SMELL SIGNATURES

What if your social media profile included a scent? In addition to bios and profile photos, you might attach a custom scent signature—something that represents your digital identity. With digital scent transmission, messaging could become multi-sensory: a friend sends a “smell” of campfire and marshmallows. Your post on Instagram might include a button that releases a certain smell, showing people not just how great your dinner looks, but also how delicious it smells. Moreover, dating apps might let you test compatibility via synthetic pheromone blends based on personality and biochemistry. After all, who likes showing up to a date only to find out that the guy is smelly?

It’s not far-fetched to think that social media could even begin to be flooded with scent influencers. Just as content creators have signature filters or aesthetics, they might develop curated scent palettes: “Follow me for cozy cabin smells and vintage leather books.” Maybe you unfollow someone on X not because you don’t like what they post, but rather because you don’t like the way their posts smell.

5. SNIFFING OUT CITIES AND CROWDS

Cities could integrate AI-powered smell sensors to monitor air quality in a granular, real-time way. This goes beyond just CO2 and PM2.5 levels. AI sniffers might detect early signs of industrial pollution, illegal dumping, or decaying infrastructure. In public restrooms, elevators, or subways, automated systems could detect and address unpleasant odors without the need for human reporting.

This tech could even be used for crowd management. A spike in specific stress or sweat-related compounds could alert security to rising tensions in a stadium or protest. This could allow security to involve their presence before conflict breaks loose! Trash overflow, leaking gas lines, or water damage might be detected well before visual signs appear, thanks to olfactory AI.

6. HYPER-PERSONALIZED HEALTHCARE

Medical AI noses already show promise, but in the future, they could be used for constant, passive health tracking. Smart pillows or phone docks could sniff your breath while you sleep and detect early biomarkers for metabolic diseases, sleep apnea, or even mood disorders. An AI could also detect hormonal fluctuations or nutrient deficiencies based on subtle changes in your body odor.

This could integrate with personalized medicine platforms, offering real-time smell-based diagnostics. For example, your AI might alert you that your breath suggests elevated ketones, hinting you’re entering ketosis (or that you may need to drink more water). Rather than waiting for symptoms, AI could constantly monitor your scent profile for ongoing health feedback.

7. RECORDING SMELLS

We already record sights and sounds. Could we one day record a memory in full sensory fidelity—including smells? Future memory archives might include olfactory data. Next time you take a photo or video, you might be able to capture the smell as well. Imagine a couple reflecting, “This was the scent in the air when we got engaged.” Or an adult showing his children a picture of his grandparents: “This is what their house smelled like.”

Capturing and recreating smells of the past might become a form of emotional therapy. Smell is deeply tied to memory and emotion. Therapists might recreate specific smellscapes to help patients access buried experiences, process trauma, or engage in sensory reprocessing. AI would play a key role in identifying the right combinations to stimulate desired recall or emotional states.

8. SMELLS LIKE STRATEGY: MARKETING AND DIPLOMACY

Smell is one of the most culturally specific senses, and it can evoke a sense of comfort or distrust within individuals and groups. What’s pleasant for one person or group of people might be revolting for another. Companies might learn how to use this to their advantage for marketing. We might imagine an insurance brand that pumps out a certain smell through the TV during their commercials. This may cause the viewer to associate that brand with a certain pleasant smell. Subconsciously, you may end up choosing Progressive over Liberty Mutual because its brand smells like your wife’s perfume.

Beyond marketing efforts, diplomats might use AI-generated scents to subtly shape mood in negotiation rooms—calming, energizing, or bonding. Or create shared smellscapes at international events to foster a sense of unity. This sort of “smell literacy” might become a new soft skill, akin to cross-cultural etiquette or language fluency.

THE SWEET SMELL OF THE FUTURE

Teaching machines to smell is no longer a nerdy niche—it’s fast becoming an important frontier in AI. The next time you stop to smell a rose, consider that an AI might soon be doing the same. The implications, as we have seen, are exciting and a little mind-boggling. Like any new technology, machine olfaction will have to navigate practical and ethical hurdles. But progress so far has been nothing to sneeze at (get it?). In just a few years, AI has gone from having virtually no sense of smell to identifying odors as well as trained human noses—and even recreating aromas from scratch. It’s a testament to human ingenuity that we’re bottling the essence of smell into data and code.

With all of these advances in AI smell, it’s important to step back and reflect on what makes us uniquely human. Will AI ever appreciate a fragrance the way we do? Probably not—it doesn’t have feelings or memories triggered by a whiff of childhood candy or grandma’s cooking. But by learning to smell, AI can augment our own noses. It can warn us of dangers, help us communicate with others, deepen our understanding of ourselves, and enhance our experience of the world around us. So in the end, maybe teaching machines to smell is not about making them more like us, but about helping us stay more deeply connected to what makes life vivid, strange, and beautifully human.