Imagine walking through Brooklyn’s artsy Greenpoint neighborhood, past an elementary school and a library, and suddenly… BAM! You spot a buzzing coworking space packed with busy workers typing away on laptops. Totally normal, right?
Except, plot twist: everything — and we mean everything — inside is made of cardboard. Including the “people.”
Welcome to Chat Haus, the world’s first coworking space for AI chatbots — and yes, it’s just as delightfully weird as it sounds.
Wait, What Is Chat Haus?
Chat Haus isn’t your typical WeWork knockoff. It’s actually an art installation dreamed up by Brooklyn-based artist Nim Ben-Reuven. Picture an entire office full of adorable, slightly unsettling cardboard robots, “working” at desks, tapping on laptops, and living their little robot best lives — all animated by tiny motors.
The price to join this exclusive workspace? A cool $1,999 a month, according to a very official-looking cardboard sign. (No word on if that includes unlimited LaCroix.)
Ben-Reuven created Chat Haus as a hilarious, slightly bittersweet commentary on how AI is reshaping the creative industries — a field where he’s built his career as a graphic designer and videographer. In his words, it’s a way to laugh through the pain instead of just shaking his fist at the future.
“It’s an expression of frustration in humor,” Ben-Reuven explained. “I didn’t want to get bitter about the industry changing so fast under my feet.”
A “Luxury” Workspace With a Deeper Message
Even though the exhibit looks playful and light-hearted (and, honestly, Instagram gold), there’s some real food for thought hidden in the cardboard. Ben-Reuven intentionally avoided making the project a doom-and-gloom anti-AI rant. Why? Because, as he puts it, going full-on negative just alienates people.
Instead, by keeping the tone cheeky and fun, Chat Haus invites everyone — whether you’re Team AI or Team Keep Your Hands Off My Job — to step inside, laugh, think, and maybe snap a few pics for the ‘Gram.
And it’s working: crowds of passersby, from curious elementary schoolers to selfie-snapping millennials, can’t seem to resist stopping to check it out.
Cardboard Robots = The Perfect Metaphor for AI?
If you think the cardboard material was just a cute choice, think again. Ben-Reuven is playing 3D chess here.
He points out that cardboard, like a lot of AI-generated work, looks sturdy from a distance — but the second you get up close and give it a little pressure? It collapses.
“AI art might look slick at first glance, but under real scrutiny? A lot of it just crumbles,” he said.
(Take that, Midjourney images that impress 12-year-olds and confuse everyone else.)
And sure, AI art is fun and gives you that instant serotonin hit — just like scarfing down a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. But Ben-Reuven reminds us: junk food is fun… until it isn’t.
How Long Is Chat Haus Around?
Like all good things (and bad leases), Chat Haus won’t be around forever. The building it’s in is waiting on renovation permits, so the display is expected to stay up until at least mid-May.
Ben-Reuven dreams of moving it to a bigger gallery space someday — partly because he has way more cardboard robot babies he’d love to add. (And partly because, let’s be real, he needs his apartment back.)
“I just thought it would be funny to imagine baby robots typing away in a warehouse somewhere, burning enough electricity to power Switzerland,” he laughed.
If you want to see it in person (and you definitely do), head to 121 Norman Avenue in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood. Just follow the sound of tiny cardboard robots clacking away.
Meet Chat Haus: The Coworking Space Where Cardboard Robots Are Living Their Best AI Lives
