Humanoid robots have invaded the dining industry as restaurateurs try out machines to attend to customers.
A waitress at a hotpot restaurant in China confused diners and netizens who viewed the TikTok video that showed her serving a bowl of food to a customer in robotic fashion. Some believed she was a robot while others said she was human.
A report on the viral video by the South China Morning Post settled the debate — the waitress was human and not a robot. The newspaper identified her as the owner of the eatery and a dancer, according to Business Insider.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has plans to mass produce robots by 2025, following the lead of American and South Korean business establishments that now use automatons to serve customers.
In New York City, a Taiwanese restaurant employs San to man its coffee bar.
San, of the restaurant Sanmiwago, which is popular for its dumplings and beef noodles, is touted as being very productive with a talent for entertaining people.
The barista whips up espresso, cappucino and lattes in 90 seconds. At that speed, the bar prepares 50 coffee beverages in an hour.
During work breaks, San disco-dances to "YMCA" and to Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell," according to New York Post
The white bot with a body that looks like a bloated rocket has multi-jointed arms and prongs for fingers that can grasp cups. Customers activate the so-called Bot Bar — built by Nevada-based RichTech Robotics — by ordering from a touchscreen.
The bot takes the coffee of choice from a container, pumps it through one of 10 stainless-steel faucets, dispenses it into a mixing vessel to combine with milk, foam, or ice, and gracefully pours it into a plastic cup, according to NYP.
Chinese restaurants usually serve tea, but Sanmiwago's robot barista can't make the beverage.
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