[NetEase smart news December 13 news] in a restaurant named henn-na outside Nagasaki, Japan, visitors saw a strange scene: food is prepared for them by bionic robots, and these robots The appearance is exactly the same as the robot in the Terminator movie. Since the name “Chef†was used on the robot and it felt uncoordinated, we named him Andrew, who is responsible for cooking Japanese pancakes. He used two long robotic arms in a metal bowl and face, and Andrew would pour it on a hot grill. As he waited for the batter to be cooked, he happily told us in Japanese how much he liked his current job. At the same time, his robotic colleagues were able to cook doughnuts, put ice cream into the cones, and choose which beverages to drink. One of the robots provided me with tunny.
Robots save money more than human employees
HIS is an operating company and now it runs this restaurant and some nearby hotels. In HIS-operated hotels, robots help check guest rooms and help them with luggage. These automated services are to a certain degree Needed by the company. Japan’s population is declining, but the economy is booming. At present, the unemployment rate in Japan has reached an unprecedented 2.8%, CEO Hideo Sawada told me: "Using robots in Japan is very normal, because we really find it difficult to find the right staff."
Sawada speculates that 70% of the work in Japanese hotels will be automated within the next five years. "It can take a year or two for the company to recoup the costs of investing in automated robots," he said. "Because robots can work 24 hours a day and they don't need vacations, we feel that ultimately using robots instead of human workers will save money."
This seems to be only suitable for Japan's vision for the future, but Michael Chui, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, says that many jobs like the food service industry and the hospitality industry are easily transformed into automation. Chui's latest research estimates that in the US restaurant and hotel services industry, 54% of the work tasks can be automated through existing technologies - making it the fourth largest automated industry in the United States.
In fact, these robots have already been put into operation. A company called Chowbotics in Redwood City, California, USA, produces a square-bottom robot that can prepare salads for customers after ordering them on the touch screen. In a café in Palo Alto, the robotic attendant put lettuce, corn, barley, and some cherry tomatoes accidentally crushed into a bowl and served as a salad. The robot butler Bontlor now offers extra towels and toiletries delivery services to dozens of hotels across the country. I have seen one at the hotel in the city of Cupertino.
On the surface, this is actually worrying. The U.S. economy has not been as smooth as the development of Japan, and one of the few highlights of the U.S. in recent years has been the promotion of job opportunities in restaurants and hotels, and this has created more job opportunities than almost any other industry. Therefore, in fact, the growth in the number of such robots replacing the human services industry has increased the impact on other industries. The food service and lodging industry now has 13.7 million U.S. employees, an increase of 38% compared to 2000. Since 2013, it has created more jobs than manufacturing.
These new positions were once considered not to be invaded by the army of robots, because they require a lot of human contact behavior, unlike the manufacturing or mining industries. For example, when ordering a cup of coffee or staying at a hotel, humans want to interact with others. Or, we think so so far. Companies that introduce robots into the service industry believe that their robots will be happy to exchange relationships with lively baristas or knowledgeable front desk receptionists to better improve efficiency. They also believe that adding robots does not necessarily mean reducing human employment.
150 burgers made within an hour of high efficiency
The reasons why robots enter U.S. restaurants and hotels are the same as the reasons they first came to work in factories. According to data from the Boston Consulting Group, in recent years, robotic production costs have dropped by 40% since 2005. At the same time, as some cities and states passed laws that raise the minimum wage limit, labor costs are getting higher and higher.
“We think we cannot afford the expensive human labor wage rate. Instead, we are making it more reasonable to automate these tasks.†Wendy's COO Bob White raised a conference call with investors in February last year. Says, and he refers to jobs that have "repetitive production tasks." Fast-food industry giants such as Wendy's, McDonald's and Panera are installing self-service kiosks in locations across the country to enable customers to place orders automatically without having to talk to shop assistants. Starbucks encourages customers to place orders on their mobile applications, so that similar transactions now account for 10% of sales.
Business owners firmly believe that robots will take over jobs that humans consider dirty, dangerous, or boring, so that people can focus on what they want to do more. For example, the international chain catering brand CaliBurger will soon install Flippy, a robot that can produce 150 hamburgers per hour. John Miller, chief executive of the chain, Cali Group, said that human employees do not like these hot, greasy grills. Blaine Hurst, Panera's chief executive officer and president, told me that he is paying close attention to the customer's experience with the measure that does not require cashiers to pay. Panera's customers used to retrieve their own food from the counter, but when they were in the restaurant, they only used the kiosk for orders, and the employees only needed to bring the food from the kitchen to the table. Hurst said: "These labor forces have been redistributed into the coffee shop to provide a more differentiated customer experience."
But how many employees do we need in the cafe? The early successes of these kiosks have shown that, at least when ordering fast food, customers value quick and convenient services. For companies like CaliBurger and Panera, do they think that hiring human welcoming staff and meal attendants can maintain the value of these positions for a long time?
Eatsa's experience may be instructive. The San Francisco-based start-up restaurant allows customers to place orders on smartphones or in-store tablets, and then remove food from a magical white wall—an automated device for the era of mobile apps. Initially, two welcoming guests stood beside the booth to guide customers. But as time goes by, customers’ reliance on welcoming staff is even less. The company’s co-founder and CEO Tim Yang told me that the company now only employs one greeter.
Those who use the app on the iPhone may have been content to abandon their dependence on the welcoming guests. However, at least there are not enough people to maintain these services. Eatsa announced in October that it will close its offices in New York City, Washington, DC, and Berkeley. He told me that the main condition for attracting customers is food rather than technology, and other chain restaurants are also interested in introducing Eatsa's business model. However, the Mexican burrito salad I ordered was quite good, priced at $8, which is cheaper than many other salad chains. I would like to know if the problem lies in the fact that Eatsa has crossed the line between efficiency and similar “silver wing killerâ€.
Technology can eliminate old jobs, but it also creates new jobs
At the Zume Pizzeria in Mountain View, California, I saw that the robot was able to spread the sauce on the dough and put it in the oven. This scene would feel good. Due to early investments in automation, Zume pizzeria spent only 10% of its budget on labor, compared with 25% in general restaurant operations. The people it hired received above-average wages and allowances: salary starting at $15 per hour and envy of benefits - Zume also provided tuition assistance in computer programming and data science. I interviewed a worker named "Freedom Carlson" who did not receive a college diploma. She works side by side with the robot in the kitchen. Since then, she has been promoted as an administrator of cooking technology projects and is learning how to develop software for computing nutrients for Zume Pizza.
This is usually a story about automation: Technology can eliminate old jobs, but it also creates new jobs – for example, since 1990, radiology technicians have been included in population occupation census data. However, especially for people in many service industries, transitioning to a new type of work has never been an easy task. New jobs that emerged after a technological change often required skills that were not available to laid-off workers, and not all employers encouraged employees to work together like Zume's pizzerias. University education helps workers to avoid the influence of automation, so that they can have the ability to master the professional knowledge, judgment ability and ability to solve problems that cannot be compared with robots. However, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 80% of workers in food processing and service-related occupations only have high school and high school education.
For workers, better results should be automated to help the food service and lodging industry continue to thrive. Panera's Hurst told me that due to the new automated kiosk and the introduction of an online ordering application, the chain is currently receiving more orders, which means it needs more staff to fulfill customer needs. The company stated that Starbucks customers who use the chain store application are more frequent than those who do not use the chain store, and the online ordering service is more efficient, increasing store sales during peak hours. In 2016, the number of Starbucks employees in the United States increased by 8% compared to 2015. Starbucks introduced the app in the same year as the number of employees grew.
Of course, whether or not automation is a positive and positive impact for restaurant and hotel employees, and not just a competitive advantage for a chain store (more business is similar to Panera that allows machine intelligence to work, not local deli The Lutronists (opposed people) will depend on whether the improved customer experience will allow Americans to choose to go out for meals and hotel accommodation rather than bring their own lunch or choose to go out and stay with Airbnb.
Automation will lead to more unemployment?
This may be the case. James Bessen, an economist at the Boston University School of Law, found that from 1990 to 2010, the number of Atm machines in the United States has increased five-fold, and the number of bank tellers has also increased. Bessen believes that Atm machines have pushed consumer demand for banks because they are no longer limited by the limited time of branches, so consumers choose to use banking services more frequently. People without a bank account will take the initiative to open an account in order to seek opportunities to use this new technology. Although there are fewer tellers in each branch, the bank has increased more branches, so the number of cashiers has generally increased. As the machine took over many basic cash processing tasks, the nature of the cashier’s work also changed. Their task now is to discuss products with customers: for example, a proof of deposit or a car loan. Conversely, employers feel that the role of such employees is more valuable. Bessen told me: "It is not yet clear that the automation of the catering industry will lead to more unemployment."
My experience with robotic services was complex. On the day I visited Apple Inc. in Cupertino, its robotic butler failed. When I used the Marriott Hotel Group's new artificial intelligence smart chat system to find my point number, it said that I would let the manual service help me find it. So this interaction did not make me decide to choose more hotel accommodation opportunities in the future. However, as I write this column, Starbucks has used the idea that spending money every week has turned into a daily consumption. The convenience of this application is hard to ignore: I can place an order on the bus, and then when I arrive at the store, I find that my drink is ready for me.
One day, I came to a local store and found that it had introduced a new policy requiring customers to retrieve orders from their baristas. (Obviously, at some stores' mobile pick-up stations, the number of congested customers can make matters a bit tricky during peak hours.) I don't like this change, and I'm used to transactions that require no interpersonal communication. I am now accustomed to going to another Starbucks coffee shop nearby, because where I can pick up my own coffee without interference from others and then enjoy my private space.
(From: The Atlantic Compilation: Netease See Compiled Robot Reviewer: Fu Zeng)
Pay attention to NetEase smart public number (smartman163), obtain the latest report of artificial intelligence industry.
48V25Ah Lithium Ion Battery,48V25Ah Lifepo4 Battery,48V Lithium Battery For Electric Scooter,48V25Ah Lithium Battery Pack
Jiangsu Zhitai New Energy Technology Co.,Ltd , https://www.zhitainewenergy.com