Robots In Restaurants

 Everyone thought the future would be like the Jetsons.We'd be living in high rise apartments with Rosie the Robot folding our clothes and washing our dishes. That hasn't;t happened - yet - not to the homeowner. However it is becoming a matter of fact in many restaurants throughout the county.

New contributor Meghan McCarron, a James beard finalist in investigative reporting, wrote this fascinating piece in Wednesday's New York Times Food section. AI help is becoming the norm in many fast food chains. They help with bussing food to the tables to helping prepare it.it is cost effective to use machines instead of hiring people. There are no extra salaries along with egos to deal with which can be a plus. AI can also work through anything. There are no snow days to worry about or traffic snarls to make them late.The machines cost but that pays itself off .This is good because it frees up human workers to concentrate on the actual cooking.They can handle heavy lifting where human servers can not. Juan Higueros, chief operating officer and cofounder of  Bear Robotics used his previous experience as a restaurant owner to design their robots.He noticed that this waitstaff had trouble carrying trays and the only solution to help them were trays on wheels. He then designed automated servers who can carry thousands of pounds of food without any effort. This helped tremendously and made the busy times easier.

Yet there is the missing human factor. People want human chefs and waitstaff. They want to know that their food is cooked with love and that the chef has put his or her all into the dish. Diners also want to interact with the server too. A good waiter can make or break a restaurant.  AI can;t really do that for some people. However at that same Long Beach Denny's one customer, Diane Deconnick liked one robot, named LIly by the waiter himself who took Ms. Deconnick's order off the tray. She even tipped it the usual twenty per cent that human help receive. This is rare because most don't like an automated server. Yet everyone does use one form of AI to order food - their phones. Most major chains have apps where customers can order with very little friction. Restauranteurs may balk at the idea of having a robot chef, but they'll embrace robots do menial jobs. Chipotle already has one that not only pits avocados but also peels and slices them. Stellar Pizza is full automated however owner Benson Tsai  believes automation should stay behind the scenes. His food trucks always have one person and that's the one who hands out the orders to customers.

Will robots take over the food industry. They will and this will benefit both customers and workers. It may make for a better dining experience after all.