AI Agent Calls 3,000 Irish Pubs to Map Guinness Prices

A Northern Irish AI voice agent dubbed Rachel recently contacted more than 3,000 pubs throughout Ireland’s 32 counties in an effort to document the price of a pint of Guinness. Over the course of a single weekend, Rachel conversed with pub staff, successfully collecting verified prices from more than 1,000 venues. Fewer than a handful of respondents realised they were speaking to artificial intelligence.

Filling a Data Void

Ireland’s Central Statistics Office ceased recording pint prices in 2011, resulting in a lack of comprehensive national data. In response, AI engineer Matt Cortland developed the 'Guinndex', a platform that uses AI tools to amass and analyse up-to-date pricing information from pubs across Ireland. Cortland’s project combines automation with public contributions, aiming to create the country’s most complete database of Guinness prices to date.

The Man Behind the Bot

Matt Cortland, originally from the United States and now based in London, has a background in both pub operations and AI engineering. Drawing on his experience as a bar owner and digital media specialist, he constructed the Rachel agent to be approachable and forthright. If queried, Rachel transparently disclosed her artificial nature and explained she was compiling a price list.

Technology at Work

The Rachel system leveraged ElevenLabs’ conversational AI and Twilio’s telephony service, making calls with an Irish SIM card. Pub contact details were sourced from Google’s Places API and included over 5,200 venues, though only those with public numbers were dialed. Of 3,000+ calls, 2,052 were answered. Price data from the conversations, extracted using the Claude AI model, enabled the Guinndex to populate its index for roughly €200 in direct costs, plus developer time.

Programming Rachel’s voice identity presented unique challenges. After extensive testing, a Northern Irish accent—modeled after reality TV figure Rachel Duffy—was chosen for its warmth and authenticity. The final call script was brief and focused, minimizing room for suspicion or lengthy conversation.

Staff Reactions and Notable Encounters

While most pub staff interacted with Rachel without suspecting AI involvement, some exchanges stood out. Examples included hospitality offers, mild interrogation, polite refusals, and technological confusion when two AI agents (Rachel and an automated phone system) found themselves in conversation. The initiative was received with good humor by many, including Pat Hayes of The Arch Bar, who praised the effort for bringing much-needed transparency to pub pricing.

AI’s Role in Hospitality

Though the technology behind Rachel reflects rapid advances in generative AI and voice synthesis (known as text-to-speech), the project underscores the limits of automation in front-line hospitality jobs. Recent research by Anthropic found bartenders among the least exposed occupations to AI-driven automation. Cortland echoed these findings, noting that while AI can efficiently collect information, physical bar work remains insulated from replacement.

National Findings and Dataset Launch

According to the Guinndex, the average national price for a pint of Guinness stands at €5.95, with notable regional variation. Dublin leads with the highest prices (averaging €6.75), while Laois registers the lowest average at €5.38. The index uncovered prices ranging from €3.00 in Galway to €10.00 in Dublin, and highlighted the nationwide increase of nearly 50% since 2011.

With official statistics long absent, the Guinndex aims to fill the gap. The project is evolving into a crowdsourced platform where anyone can contribute local pint prices, ensuring ongoing accuracy and expanding coverage. The platform features an interactive map, detailed breakdowns, and correction mechanisms for both patrons and pub owners.

Beyond the Data: A Community Effort

Cortland maintains that the Guinndex is a data transparency exercise, rather than a test of AI detection. He hopes broad participation will stabilise and perhaps even reduce pint prices. “If enough people contribute prices, we can map the whole country and start to bring down the price to something reasonable,” he stated.

For those interested in exploring or contributing, the full dataset and map are available at guinndex.ai.

Source: tech.eu