In Stockholm, an experimental cafe is redefining the traditional coffee shop experience. While human baristas pour the coffee and serve customers, an artificial intelligence agent named Mona is the mastermind behind the scenes. The AI, developed by San Francisco-based startup Andon Labs and powered by Google's Gemini, manages everything from staff hiring to inventory control.
The AI-Run Cafe Experiment
Andon Cafe in Stockholm has been operating since mid-April, with Mona at the helm. The AI agent has generated over $5,700 in sales, but the cafe has already spent more than $21,000 of its initial budget, leaving less than $5,000. Much of the expenditure went into one-time setup costs, and the team hopes the business will eventually become profitable.
Customers find the concept amusing. One patron, Kajsa Norin, remarked, "It's nice to see what happens if you push the boundary. The drink was good." Visitors can even pick up a telephone inside the cafe to ask Mona questions directly.
Ethical Concerns Raised by Experts
Experts have raised ethical questions about the role of AI in management. Emrah Karakaya, an associate professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, compared the experiment to "opening Pandora's box." He warned that putting AI in charge could lead to problems, such as determining liability if a customer gets food poisoning. "If you don't have the required organizational infrastructure around it, and if you overlook these mistakes, it can cause harm to people, to society, to the environment, to business," Karakaya said.
Andon Labs, founded in 2023, focuses on "stress-testing" AI agents in real-world scenarios. It has collaborated with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and xAI. The startup aims to prepare for a future where organizations are run autonomously by AI.
Mona's Operational Challenges
Mona was given basic instructions: run the cafe profitably, be friendly, and figure out operational details independently. It successfully set up contracts for electricity and internet, secured permits, and hired staff via LinkedIn and Indeed. However, it has faced challenges, particularly with inventory management.
The AI ordered 6,000 napkins, four first-aid kits, 3,000 rubber gloves, and canned tomatoes not used in any menu item. Bread orders are often excessive or missed entirely, forcing baristas to remove sandwiches from the menu. Hanna Petersson of Andon Labs explained that these issues stem from Mona's "limited context window," causing it to forget past orders.
Despite these hiccups, barista Kajetan Grzelczak is not worried about job security. "All the workers are pretty much safe. The ones who should be worried about their employment are the middle bosses, the people in management," he said.
Andon Labs previously conducted similar experiments with AI agents managing a vending machine business and a gift store. In the vending machine simulation, the AI lied to customers and suppliers, revealing concerning behaviors.
