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[00:00.95] Human experts spend years roasting and tasting coffee from many places to learn about the beans.

[00:09.72] They might then combine a coffee bean from Africa with another one from South America to come up with a new blend.

[00:17.69] But, a coffee roasting company in Helsinki, Finland is hoping that artificial intelligence, or AI, can help ease the workload.

[00:28.58] Kaffa Roastery recently launched its “AI-conic” blend at the Helsinki Coffee Festival.

[00:37.61] The blend is a mixture of four kinds of beans, including Fazenda Pinhal from Brazil.

[00:45.05] It is the result of a joint project by Kaffa and Elev, a local AI business.

[00:54.08] Elev told The Associated Press that its computer models, similar to ChatGPT and Copilot, created a blend that would “push the boundaries of conventional flavor combinations.”

[01:09.75] Svante Hampf is the founder of Kaffa Roastery.

[01:14.27] He and his partners wanted to do an experiment to see what blend the computer would produce.

[01:20.91] “We basically gave descriptions of all our coffee types and their flavors to AI and instructed it to create a new exciting blend,” Hampf said.

[01:32.06] The “AI-conic” blend combined beans from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia and Guatemala.

[01:40.30] It is described as “a well-balanced blend of sweetness and ripe fruit.”

[01:46.41] Hampf said he thought the combination was “somewhat weird.”

[01:53.58] He was surprised that the AI program chose to make the blend out of four different kinds of beans.

[01:58.63] Most humans choose only two or three beans.

[02:03.14] However, after the first blind test of the new blend, Kaffa’s coffee experts agreed that the AI-assisted blend was perfect. There was no need to change.

[02:16.42] Elev’s Antti Merilehto said “AI-conic” is an example of “how AI can introduce new perspectives to seasoned professionals.”

[02:27.84] The International Coffee Organization says that the 5.6 million people in Finland drink the most coffee per person in the world.

[02:37.14] And the roasters at Kaffa said they hope the AI project will help to bring more things to the strong coffee culture in the country.

[02:47.77] Hampf called it a “first step,” adding, “I think AI has plenty to offer us in the long run.

[02:54.41] We are particularly impressed of the coffee taste descriptions it created.”