{"id":98,"date":"2026-05-15T17:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=98"},"modified":"2026-05-15T17:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:38:12","slug":"an-ai-walked-into-a-bar-in-cambridge-and-asked-for-a-code-drink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=98","title":{"rendered":"An AI walked into a bar in Cambridge and asked for a code drink. . ."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It all started with a portmanteau. A group of Harvard Business School classmates were at a table at the Harvard Square pub Shay\u2019s in March, talking about how to get more social time together before their impending graduation. One of them suggested they call April \u201cShaypril\u201d and come to the bar as much as possible during what would be their last month of classes.<\/p>\n

Read more Court appointed special advocates help foster children<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt started as kind of a joke,\u201d said Nate Alvarez, one of the friends at the table. But then it became a challenge, to see who could make it to Shay\u2019s every weekday. To keep them accountable, Alvarez decided to create a website to register people and track their participation.<\/p>\n

Just one problem for Alvarez: \u201cI did not have any software experience.\u201d Then he thought of AI and vibe coding, where a user creates an app or website by simply describing to an AI agent the features, they want it to have.<\/p>\n

Using Claude, Alvarez needed just a few rounds of tweaks to create a working version of what became the official Shayprils website, with a check-in function that required users to take a selfie at the bar, a leaderboard and even a notification system that pinged registrants with pre-set messages like \u201cWho wants to go to Shays?\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m heading to Shays now!\u201d in order to rally more people to come.<\/p>\n

With that, the challenge was on. \u201cIt just kind of took off like wildfire,\u201d Alvarez said. News of the challenge and corresponding leaderboard spread via word of mouth, mostly among fellow HBS students. By the end of the month, over 100 people had used the Shayprils app to log nearly 500 check-ins.<\/p>\n

Staff at Shay\u2019s were bemused that the group of grad students suddenly showing up every day had gone to such lengths to incentivize something as simple as grabbing a beer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very silly thing taken very seriously,\u201d said Alex Kovacs, a bartender at Shay\u2019s and the son of one of the owners. \u201cYou don\u2019t really need an app to go to a bar.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Will Hennessy, who was at the table with Alvarez when the idea of Shayprils first emerged, said the app made hanging out at a bar feel \u201cexciting and novel.\u201d Elements like the leader board, he said, helped busy students by making relaxation feel productive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that there is an optimistic lens in that some of these tools and technology can help people connect. What we really want is to sit around and chat with our friends,\u201d Hennessy said.<\/p>\n

ShAyI?<\/h2>\n

Shay\u2019s might seem an ironic place to apply AI. The cozy, British-style pub only stopped hand-writing checks in 2022. But then, while talking with Cambridge Day, co-owner Rosaline Kovacs pulled up an app, checked Shay\u2019s monthly sales, and found a seven percent increase in revenue compared to last April. This was despite the repaving of JFK street, which prevented the pub from setting up curbside tables it normally has out April 1.<\/p>\n

Read more Events in Cambridge and Somerville: Campfire Festival, FDR\u2019s final days, & \u2018Black Swan\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

She was, however, skeptical of whether the bump could be attributed to Shayprils instead of new menu items.<\/p>\n

But her son, Alex said having the large group of people regularly out on the small front patio was good for \u201ccurb appeal.\u201d One of the servers at Shay\u2019s, Sean Mathews, said \u201cthere\u2019s definitely been an uptick in early business,\u201d which he attributed to Shayprils. Shay\u2019s opens at 4 p.m., coinciding with the time when many business school classes end.<\/p>\n

Lessons learned<\/h2>\n

On the last day of the challenge, more than 60 Shaypril-ers gathered at the pub starting at about 8:00 p.m. A \u201cShayprils\u201d banner hung at the front of the bar, a Chat-GPT dupe of the sign outside, complete with its looping script and cartoon wine bottle.<\/p>\n

Some of the revelers shared stories of taking first dates and visiting family members to the bar to maintain their streaks. One brought her grandmother, and had her log a check-in, selfie and all.<\/p>\n

People traded official Shayprils swag, including tee shirts, stickers that said \u201cI Shaysed Today!\u201d and even coasters with a cartoon of Alvarez on them. Awards were handed out, including \u201cBest Server\u201d which went to Mathews. (\u201cOnly because we see him the most,\u201d Alvarez later clarified. \u201cWe love them all!\u201d). For his part, Mathews said he had enjoyed getting to know the Shayprils crowd. \u201cIt\u2019s a cool thing they\u2019re doing,\u201d he said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe how serious they were taking it with all their stats.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Shayprils branding has helped bring in some new clientele, like second year HBS student Vale Vinas. \u201cMy first time at Shay\u2019s was because of Shayprils,\u201d she said, noting that it was also her first dive bar experience. Vinas went to Shay\u2019s 11 times in April, placing her 13 th overall, and said \u201cI am growing a new appreciation for dive bars overall.\u201d Compared to clubs in her native Miami, she called Shay\u2019s a \u201ccommunity-oriented place, [where] we\u2019re going to just drink and talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alvarez and three others sat atop the leaderboard. They patronized the bar all 22 weekdays of April \u2013 a perfect month.<\/p>\n

At a time when technology like social media is seen as isolating people, especially Millennials and Gen Zers, AI had created a different effect. It also turned a bit of business school on its head, according to Greg Pera, a Shaypril-er who made it into the top ten. Much of the business school method has students giving opinions \u201cabout what a business should do from a very privileged scene of, like, no experience,\u201d Pera said. \u201cThis is kind of the opposite\u2026 What if you just showed up, and engaged in a place in a real way?\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Kurosawa, Kurt & Jodie, Chaplin, and doppelgangers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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