Saw something wild at a coffee shop in Portland using AI to predict drink orders

I was visiting a local spot in Portland last week called Brew Mind, and they had this screen showing which drinks would be popular that hour based on weather and past data. The barista told me their AI tool scans sales from the last 6 months and adjusts what beans they prep. It actually worked pretty well because they had fewer wasted batches of cold brew on rainy days. I'm curious if any other shops or small businesses have tried something like this for inventory or staffing. Has anyone else seen AI helping out in a small business setting like a cafe or bakery?

2 comments

2 Comments

eva_rivera5d ago

Used to think AI was just for big tech, but this actually sounds smart for a small shop.

adams825d ago

Nah I gotta push back on that. All that AI stuff is just gonna eat up your time training it and then it'll still mess up basic stuff you could've done yourself in 5 minutes. Plus you're feeding it YOUR customers' data and who knows where that ends up.