Machine learning has infiltrated nearly every aspect of consumer living, and the world of olfaction is no exception. But how does the cold, hard, data-fueled approach of AI stack up against the romantic, emotionally intertwined world of handmade scent?The last industrial revolution of perfumery came about in the early 1900s with the discovery of synthetic aroma molecules, and AI is now increasingly on the uptake, bearing the potential of the fragrance industry’s digital revolution equivalent. Forced to shift all retail operations completely online seemingly overnight, perfumery has awoken to a dire need to overhaul its digital presence. Extending this to the production realm had remained a more nascent aspect, although AI is now being increasingly employed by startups and manufacturers.Machine Learning-Driven CustomizationAI, beyond being a mere tool, now constitutes the core of fragrance-focused startups. Smart perfume brand NINU offers customizable fragrance options enabled through a coordinating app that lets customers choose their fragrance for the day based on occasion, scent preferences, and intensity desire. NoOrdinaryScent creates perfumes based on image submissions from customers which are then interpreted by an AI into fragrance compositions. The potential of this technology not only offers additional variables in terms of how fragrances are made, but can be harnessed to create new ingredient possibilities. Osmo, a startup backed by Google Research and an initial $60 million funding round, is using generative artificial intelligence and an odor map (built to predict the smell of a molecule based on its structure) to create new aroma molecules.