“I was like, ‘Well can I just call every pub in Ireland and conversationally ask them with AI?,’” Cortland said. “I pulled the thread, and I just kept pulling the thread, and here we are.”
The calls generated a dataset that Cortland fed into Anthropic’s Claude to build what he calls the “Guinndex,” a crowdsourced price tracker that reflects both average and typical costs. As of Monday, the average price was about €6.01, with a most common price of €5.50.
The project also surfaced how much prices can differ between nearby pubs. Cortland said he’s seen swings of nearly €2 between locations just 100 yards apart. The highest recorded price on the platform is €11.
The AI agent, named Rachel, was designed with a Northern Irish accent and often went unnoticed by bartenders during conversations. In several cases, pub staff responded as if they were speaking to a person, offering discounts or friendly remarks. “Listen, they’re normally 6.20 , but if you can’t afford one, we’ll buy you one. We’ll look after you,” one bartender told the agent.
Cortland said the visibility created by the Guinndex is already influencing behavior. In at least one instance, a pub owner lowered their price by €0.40 and updated the listing.
The experiment highlights how voice AI is increasingly being used in real-world interactions. Data from voice AI company Regal suggests people often engage longer with AI callers than with human representatives, a pattern Cortland said he also observed.
While the project focuses on beer, Cortland sees broader applications. He is exploring similar tools to track pricing in other markets, including prescription drugs in the U.S. and everyday items like pizza in New York City.
“If you’re charging €11 for a pint of Guinness, that’s fair enough,” Cortland said. “But people should know that information.”
This analysis is based on reporting from Fortune.
Image courtesy of Unsplash.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
