AI Rachel’s Pint Price Hunt: Traitors Star Inspires Guinness Price Showdown

Rachel Duffy, who comes from Newry, became well-known after winning the TV show The Traitors UK. She was the first woman to win as a traitor, which means she was very good at convincing other players that she was on their side. Her skills inspired an American engineer named Matt Cortland to create an artificial intelligence voice agent. He named this AI 'Rachel' and gave it a Northern Ireland accent, similar to Rachel Duffy's, because he thought her voice sounded trustworthy and friendly.

Matt Cortland wanted to find out how much a pint of Guinness costs in different pubs across Ireland. To do this, he programmed AI Rachel to call over 3,000 pubs and ask for the price of a pint. Out of all the calls, more than 2,000 pubs answered, and over 1,000 gave her the price. Matt used this information to build a website called Guinndex, where people can check and compare the price of Guinness in different places. He discovered that Dublin had the most expensive pints, with an average price of €6. 75, while County Laois had the cheapest at €5. 38.

Many bartenders enjoyed talking to AI Rachel, and some even joked with her. For example, a bartender in Kilkenny offered to buy her a pint if she could not afford one. In another case, a bartender in County Fermanagh joked about the price but said he would give her a discount if she visited. Not every call went smoothly, though. In Lisburn, AI Rachel ended up talking to another AI system, and they both kept apologizing without getting any information. Matt says his project is not meant to harm pubs but to help customers find good deals and highlight great pubs. He has worked in the pub industry himself and wants to support both pub owners and customers.