A café in Stockholm is being run by an AI manager called Mona, who handles everything from hiring staff to ordering supplies.
The coffee is hot, the cinnamon buns are fresh, and the manager isn't human.
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A new experimental café in Sweden's capital is serving up a taste of the future of the workplace with an artificial intelligence chatbot running almost everything behind the scenes.
Launched by San Francisco-based startup Andon Labs, the experiment puts an AI chatbot named “Mona” in charge - from hiring staff to managing supplies.
While it looks like any other neighbourhood coffee shop, where baristas prepare drinks and customers place orders, behind it all, Mona is making the decisions.
For many customers, the appeal of visiting the café is seeing how AI might reshape everyday jobs.
“You hear so much about AI is about to take our jobs, but what does that look like in application? So I thought it was a great experiment to learn more about to see what it is like to have an AI manager and a future where all these agents take over these roles and how, as a society can prepare for that," said student Urja Risal.
"So I just wanted to see what it's like to be here and to be in a café that's run by Mona,” she added.
How Mona runs the business
According to Andon Labs, Mona secured permits, designed the menu, sourced suppliers, and even recruited staff - posting job listings, conducting interviews and making hiring decisions.
"It's an experiment. We think that AI will be a big part of society and the job market in the future. And we want to test that before that's the reality and see what ethical questions arise when, for example, an AI employs human beings," said Hanna Petersson from Andon Labs.
“We have baristas working here, so you don't see it's AI when you're here. But everything in the background is by an AI. So she has applied for the permits that are needed when you open a café. She hired the baristas, so she figured out that someone needed to make the coffee. She posted job listings on Indeed and LinkedIn and held phone interviews and then made hiring decisions,” she added.
Still, Mona isn’t perfect. Her shopping habits have raised a few eyebrows.
“Ordering isn't really her best suit, so I made for her, especially for her as a present, a wall of shame. And here I put all the unnecessary things she bought, like 10 litres of oil or 15 kilograms of tomatoes in cans, 9 litres of coconut milk in cans,” said barista Kajetan Grzelczak.
Despite the occasional over-ordering spree, Mona appears to be winning over at least some of her human staff.
"Mona is surprisingly a good boss. She is communicative and I have a lot of freedom to voice my opinions, add my own things to the menu and such. And when we compare it to the other cafés I worked at, it's just much nicer. It's better," revealed Grzelczak.
While the project raises serious questions about the future of employment and decision-making when machines take on managerial roles, for now the biggest risk might just be ending up with far too many canned tomatoes.
