On Being the First Woman with a Generative AI Patent
On Being First Generative AI Patent as a Black Inventor and the First Woman — Here's What That Means for the Future of Food and Work
In late 2022, I was granted a patent for a generative AI system — U.S. Patent No. 11521734B2 — that uses neural networks to generate optimized food recipes based on health, cost, and popularity. It was first filed years earlier, and it’s not just a technical invention — it’s a statement of intent.
I hold this patent in multiple countries. That makes me the first Black inventor in the world and the first woman to receive a generative AI patent — in any field, not just food.
There are no earlier patents — in the U.S., Europe, or other major jurisdictions — that list a Black inventor, male or female, for a generative AI system. Generative AI patents have largely come from major tech firms, research universities, or well-funded labs. My work did not come from any of those. I filed this as the founder and CEO of Journey Foods, a company I built to reimagine how we feed people, using data and deep care.
Modern food science — which emerged with military rations, processed meats, and canned goods in the 1940s and 50s — is barely 70 years old. In that short time, we’ve built trillion-dollar food industries with a workforce that hasn’t scaled to meet the complexity of global supply chains, nutrition demands, or sustainability goals.
But to understand why this matters, you have to understand the system I was pushing back against — one that has scaled convenience but not wellness, product volume but not food equity.
A Broken Ratio: One Expert for Every 40,000 Products
When I began writing this patent, I was featured by MIT among 3 of t5 under 35 as the most innovative young people in the world. At the same time, I was deep in research on the future of the food workforce. What I discovered changed everything.
Today, for every 40,000 packaged food products, there's only one trained food scientist or technologist responsible for overseeing safety, formulation, or innovation. Modern food science — which took off in the 1940s with canned goods, processed meats, and convenience stores — is only about 70 years old. But the complexity of what we eat has exploded, while the workforce behind it has not.
We are still relying on human capacity for a system that has become algorithmic in scale. And we are doing so with little transparency, accountability, or inclusion.
What Happens If We Lose the Few We Have?
The world has only 400,000–500,000 food technologists and scientists working in product development and innovation. If we lose even a fraction of them — due to aging out, automation, or underinvestment — the impact will be severe:
- Thousands of companies will lose institutional knowledge.
- Millions of products will decline in nutritional value, traceability, and innovation.
- And over 2 billion people will be affected in what they eat every day.
This is the backdrop against which I built my AI system. It wasn’t just about automation. It was about augmentation — designing a platform to support overworked professionals, small food companies, and the next generation of food innovators.
This Is the Type of AI We Should Be Building
I didn't file this patent because I wanted to be first. I filed it because I believe the food system — and the tech system behind it — deserves better. I care deeply about my health, my family’s health, and the health of the communities I serve.
AI can be extractive, or it can be expansive.
I chose to build expansive AI — systems that work alongside human expertise, increase access to better food, and reduce reliance on guesswork in global supply chains.
Legacy, Not Just IP
Being the first Black inventor and the first woman to hold a generative AI patent is historic — but it’s not the end goal. It’s the starting point.
It opens the door for:
- More women inventors in AI.
- More founders from underrepresented backgrounds to protect their ideas.
- More products built with equity in mind, not just efficiency.
The work continues. But the record is now clear.
I was first.
And I’m still building.