Truly we are in the best of times, and the cursed of times. The breadth of human knowledge has never been greater and it has gifted us with near infinite capabilities to better the world around us in whatever way we see fit. And yet, we use it for… whatever this is. A roaster in Finland used artificial intelligence to create a coffee blend.
As reported by AP News, the blend is the work of Helsinki’s Kaffa Roastery, the country’s third-largest coffee roaster. Teaming up with AI consultancy Elev, Kaffa “[leveraged] models akin to ChatGPT and Copilot” to craft “a blend that would ideally suit coffee enthusiasts’ tastes, pushing the boundaries of conventional flavor combinations,” per Elev.
To come up with the blend components, the algorithm was given descriptions and flavors of all the coffees Kaffa had on hand to choose from. AI ended up choosing four coffees: a Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Guatemala. And the name of the blend? AI-conic.
Along with creating the blend, the AI was tasked with creating the coffee bag label—which kinda looks like if the T-1000 was coffee beans—as well as the tasting notes. It came up with “a well balanced blend of sweetness and ripe fruit.” Revolutionary stuff here.
When they cupped the coffee, the folks at Kaffa all agreed, the blend was “perfect, and there was no need for human adjustments.”
The purpose of using AI to create a blend was to show how new technologies could aid in coffee roasting, which AP describes as “a traditional artisan profession highly valued in Finland.” And nothing says highly valuing an artisanal profession like mining it out to ChatGPT.
I’m sure there are places within the coffee industry that artificial intelligence can be a benefit, freeing up time to let the artisans be artisans. But I have a hard time believing that this is one of them, quite the opposite in fact. This feels like technology for technology’s sake, or an outlandish play to make headlines (it worked). Whatever it is, the end result is a bit unsettling. A coffee company, people who presumably place the highest value on the craft of coffee making, willingly ceding it to automation.
One of the things that makes coffee so interesting is to see how different individuals interpret the same coffee. How Black & White roasts their Diego Bermudez Thermal Shock coffee versus how Manhattan does, for instance. They are the same coffee and yet they are not, and the difference comes from the uniqueness and proclivities of the different roasting companies. That’s where the good stuff is. Not in using AI to play to the cheap seats.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
