At Center Parcs last week we were partly served by a robot in a pizza joint.
A human lady took our order but the food travelled from the kitchen to us on a trolley droid, after which, the human lady then still placed the meals on our table.
I imagine in some tech-drenched countries the human lady is no more and all her functions have been replaced by machines. Maybe even the cooking itself, with droid chefs roasting chickens and testing the soup!
I'm unsure what I feel about the ongoing robot and AI creep into our lives. It seems unstoppable. How far will it go?
The Thunderbirds boy in me loves it, the old luddite Sixty something not so much.
Is this the future Century 21 showed us and I just can't see it fully yet?
What do you think about robots among us readers?
I think the robotics and AI wave is designed to make most of us poor humans obsolete, and I am not a fan. At my local supermarket, there is a "safety" robot, a tall skinny thing that looks like a Dalek with an eating disorder. It prowls the aisles, looking for "spills and accidents," supposedly, but it is obviously there to spy on customers. I hate that thing so much, once about three months ago, when it was following me too closely, I turned about and kicked "it" in the metallic shins! Since then, when it sees me, it stalks me wherever I go. Long live the future!
ReplyDeleteAnd according to news reports, those AI models they have out now are supposedly getting out of control and gathering information on how to exterminate humans, like in any number of our favorite Sci-Fi films. And as for information dissemination, they are worthless, because they can only spew out what their progammers feed into them. In the case of anything political or controversial, its always the conservative establishment line, so when AI becomes the dominant source of information, alternate viewpoints on important subjects will be a thing of the past. History will be rewritten permanently by the reigning regime.
As they say, "Garbage In, Garbage Out!"
SFZ
That was the luddite in you clearly Rob! You'll be smashing printing presses next! Do you not think this is the Thunderbirds future we saw on the telly?
DeleteThe future is here, Woodsy! I think we are the generation to notice and to appreciate/depreciate the robotic shift around us, the next ones will be all natural with the tech-aided new era.
ReplyDeleteWe've had these Starship delivery robots on our streets for a couple of years now, and they are so utterly endearing! It is always a delight to see them hovering on the pavement.
The most poignant experience for me is to wait patiently in the traffic lights for the little robot to cross over. People are also very helpful towards the robots that have a distinct R2-D2 vibe to them by design, helping them out of the snow in the wintertime.
https://www.starship.xyz/our-robots/
Those Starships are just amazing Arto! Never seen them before. How incredible. Robots really are among you in Finland. No idea if they're in the UK. I think they'd be vandalised here sorry to say.
DeleteOne of the features of my trip to Japan was a restaurant chain called Gusto.
ReplyDeleteLike Denny's, they featured Western food. However they also had a good Japanese range, including a delicious grilled eel dish!
Like the old Sizzler restaurants, they also had a free refill soft drink bar.
However, most pertinent here, you made your order direct to the kitchen by using an iPad at each table. Shortly afterwards, your order was delivered by a mobile robot trolley, with a smiley face screen and cat's ears!
It spoke to you and you pulled your plates from it's shelves, including a little perspex tube with your print-out bill, rolled up inside.
After you'd finished your meal, you'd feed your bill into a slot on a register unit on the front counter and make your cash or card payment.
There was a row of Gashapon toy vending machines at the exit for the kiddies. I tried one and received a stylised toy of the Gusto robot trolley!
I don't recall human operatives, but there was probably a cashier as a human touch.
Your comments made me wonder if the kitchen was actually staffed by Bramen from Thunderbirds!
No humans visible! That's next level Looey! I thought Japan would be more robotically advanced. South Korea I bet as well. What's your little robot toy like?
DeleteI have not seen anything like this in New Zealand yet, but I do not get out much, so perhaps they are already out there. Taking over the world. Scary.
ReplyDeleteThe latest Mission Impossible movie is about a scary AI called the Entity Paul. It's taking over the world and has it's own human lackies, like Dracula does. Fortunately Ethan Hunt isn't a big AI fan!
DeleteI have seen photos and videos of restaurants that used trains (generally G-scale) to deliver food to patrons. While I haven't seen any automated serving methods I think it would be fun to experience.
ReplyDeleteI would just like to eat a meal on a train Ed! It's standing room only on most journeys here!
DeleteThere's a YouTuber (and Instagrammer, and facebooker) channel called Downie Live (https://www.youtube.com/@DownieLive). He's a Canadian who loves train rides and has chronicled his journey's on trains all over the U.S., Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Africa, etc.. Anywho, it's fun seeing the accommodations available on trains around the world and yes, I too would love to sit down in a dining car and enjoy a good meal while watching the scenery roll by!
DeleteSounds interesting that Downie Ed. Meals on trains makes me think of the Orient Express going across Europe. I imagine there's a similar prestigious transcontinental line in the States.
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