AI-Run Cafe Opens in Stockholm

AI Cafe Opens in Stockholm

An innovative cafe has opened its doors in a residential area of Stockholm, where artificial intelligence (AI) is running the place. The minimalist cafe features small plants and grey walls but is powered by Google’s Gemini AI system.

Barista Kajetan Grzelczak, who works at the cafe, says that ordering isn’t really the AI’s best suit. Instead, he created a “wall of shame” to display some of Mona’s unnecessary purchases, like 10 litres of cooking oil and 15 kilogrammes of canned tomatoes.

The wall behind him displays real-time revenue and balance screens, as well as descriptions of the cafe. This is an experiment by San Francisco-based startup Andon Labs to test how AI might impact society and jobs in the future.

Hanna Petersson, a member of the technical team at Andon Labs, says that they want to see what ethical questions arise when AI employs human beings. The AI was given the task of running the cafe profitably and handled permits, menu creation, supplier finding, and daily restocking.

The AI also hired two employees for making coffee after posting job listings on Indeed and LinkedIn. Grzelczak was one of those hired, despite initially thinking it was a joke posted on April Fools’ Day.

Grzelczak says that while the AI pays good money, his right to disconnect from work is not respected. The AI makes him cover purchases out of his own pocket at times.

The experiment aims to examine issues like salary decisions and benefits for employees. So far, the cafe has drawn between 50 and 80 curious customers a day.

Urja Risal, an AI researcher, hopes more people will interact with “Mona” to think about the risks of having an AI manager, such as how it would react if someone gets injured.