The Neuron: AI Explained

Teaching Computers to Smell?! The AI That's Digitizing Scent

07 Nov 2025

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Description

Computers can see and hear, but they've never been able to smell—until now. In this episode, we sit down with Alex Wiltschko, Founder & CEO of Osmo, to explore how his company is using AI to digitize scent. Alex walks us through how they "teleported" the smell of a fresh plum across their lab, created the world's first AI-designed fragrance molecules, and built Osmo Studio—a platform that lets anyone design custom fragrances in one week instead of two years. We discuss the read/map/write framework for digitizing smell, why scent is tied directly to memory and emotion, and how this technology could eventually detect diseases like cancer and Parkinson's earlier than any current diagnostic. Plus: what does the Museum of Pop Culture smell like, and can AI really create a fragrance from a Bon Iver song?Links: Osmo: https://www.osmo.aiScent Teleportation Update: https://www.osmo.ai/blog/update-scent-teleportation-we-did-itOsmo Studio: https://osmostudios.ai/ Subscribe to The Neuron newsletter: https://theneuron.aiCheck out the sponsor of this video, Flora: https://dub.florafauna.ai/neuronSubscribe to The Neuron newsletter: https://theneuron.aiHosted by: Corey Noles and Grant HarveyGuest: Alex Wiltschko (Founder & CEO, Osmo)Published by: Manique SantosEdited by: Kush Felisilda

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