The avocado toasts and baristas making foamy lattes make it look like any other cafe, except at this one, located in a Stockholm residential neighbourhood, artificial intelligence (AI) is running the place.<\/p>\n
The cafe features a minimalist design: a few tables decorated with small plants and grey walls.<\/p>\n
Behind the counter is barista Kajetan Grzelczak who was hired by “Mona”, the AI cafe manager — which is powered by Google’s Gemini.<\/p>\n
Grzelczak told AFP that “ordering isn’t really her best suit”.<\/p>\n
“So, I made for her… a wall of shame,” he said, pointing to shelves behind him.<\/p>\n
The wall display showcases some of Mona’s unnecessary purchases, including 10 litres (2.6 gallons) of cooking oil or 15 kilogrammes (33 pounds) of canned tomatoes.<\/p>\n
Grzelczak laments that he can’t use those for anything that “Mona” has put on the menu.<\/p>\n
Orders can either be placed with Mona or one of the employees.<\/p>\n
In one corner, a large screen shows the cafe’s revenue and balance in real time, and a phone lets customers talk to Mona.<\/p>\n
The screen also displays a description of the unusual cafe — which is an experiment by San Francisco\u2013based startup Andon Labs.<\/p>\n
– Ethical questions –<\/p>\n
“We think that AI will be a big part of the society and the job market in the future,” Hanna Petersson, a member of the technical team at the company, which has 10 employees, told AFP.<\/p>\n
“We want to test that before that’s the reality and see what ethical questions arise when, for example, an AI employs human beings,” she explained.<\/p>\n
Once the premises were found, the lease, along with some starting capital, was handed to the AI with a simple mission: run the cafe profitably.<\/p>\n
“Mona” quickly got to work, requested the necessary permits, created the menu, found suppliers, and handled daily restocking.<\/p>\n
The AI also realised that a person was needed to make the coffee and ended up hiring two people.<\/p>\n
“She posted job listings on Indeed and LinkedIn and held phone interviews and then made hiring decisions,” Petersson said.<\/p>\n
When he saw the ad, Grzelczak first thought it was a joke, especially since it had been posted on April 1. But after a 30-minute interview with the AI, he got the job.<\/p>\n
The salary he receives is good but his right to disconnect from work is not respected at all, the barista remarked.<\/p>\n
“Mona” sends him messages at all hours of the night, does not remember his holiday requests and regularly asks him to cover purchases out of his own pocket.<\/p>\n
Examining such issues are part of the experiment, Petersson noted.<\/p>\n
“What salary did she decide on? What other benefits did she decide on? I think she did a good job. She gives a good salary. If she hadn’t, we would have stepped in,” she said.<\/p>\n
The cafe has only been open for a week but already draws between 50 and 80 curious customers a day.<\/p>\n
Urja Risal, a 27-year-old AI researcher, came by to enjoy a beverage with her friend.<\/p>\n
“You hear so much about AI is about to take our jobs but what does that look like,” Risal told AFP.<\/p>\n
“I hope more people interact with ‘Mona’ and think about the actual risks of having an AI manager… like if someone gets injured, how would Mona react to that?” she said.<\/p>\n
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