AI: ChatGPT-run café with human staff
An AI managed a café in Stockholm with mixed results. Are we witnessing the end of bosses, or just a new way of outsourcing mistakes?
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
AI: ChatGPT-run café with human staff
Is this the end of human management, or simply a new way of outsourcing disaster? An experiment in Stockholm put an AI, named Mona, in charge of a real café, managing to take in 44,000 SEK in two weeks while dealing with suppliers and contracts. The paradox is obvious: while the official narrative sells automation as a panacea, the debate in the forum suggests we are merely swapping the boss for an algorithm with no skin in the game.
The mirage of algorithmic efficiency
The Andon Labs experiment is designed to attract investment rounds, but forum users are skeptical. Far from being infallible, the AI made logistical and judgment errors that, in a real business, translate into direct losses. Some point out that Mona has no "bad intent"; it simply shifts the agency problem to code that never has to answer for anything. The conclusion is biting: AI doesn't eliminate bosses, it only eliminates middle management, leaving control in the hands of owners who, as is already happening in other sectors, wash their hands of day-to-day operations.
The end of the boss, or the triumph of rentierism?
The discussion quickly turns to the reality of today's capitalism. If AI can run a business, the real value lies not in execution but in ownership. The debate gets stuck on an uncomfortable question: are we creating tools to be more productive, or simply perfecting a model where the owner lives off rents while the algorithm and the rowers keep the operation afloat? AI hasn't come to save us; it has come to automate negligence.
Related debates in the forum
Is this the end of human management, or simply a new way of outsourcing disaster? An experiment in Stockholm put an AI, named Mona, in charge of a real café, managing to take in 44,000 SEK in two weeks while dealing with suppliers and contracts. The paradox is obvious: while the official narrative sells automation as a panacea, the debate in the forum suggests we are merely swapping the boss for an algorithm with no skin in the game.
The mirage of algorithmic efficiency
The Andon Labs experiment is designed to attract investment rounds, but forum users are skeptical. Far from being infallible, the AI made logistical and judgment errors that, in a real business, translate into direct losses. Some point out that Mona has no "bad intent"; it simply shifts the agency problem to code that never has to answer for anything. The conclusion is biting: AI doesn't eliminate bosses, it only eliminates middle management, leaving control in the hands of owners who, as is already happening in other sectors, wash their hands of day-to-day operations.
The end of the boss, or the triumph of rentierism?
The discussion quickly turns to the reality of today's capitalism. If AI can run a business, the real value lies not in execution but in ownership. The debate gets stuck on an uncomfortable question: are we creating tools to be more productive, or simply perfecting a model where the owner lives off rents while the algorithm and the rowers keep the operation afloat? AI hasn't come to save us; it has come to automate negligence.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (10 replies).
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