Robot Waiters Soon?

Some interesting examples mentioned.

Are Robot Waiters the Future?   By Associated Press, April 10, 2023

A BellaBot robot delivers food and drinks to a table in the Noodle Topia restaurant in Madison Heights, MI.

Many think robot waiters are the solution to the restaurant industry’s labor shortages; sales have been growing rapidly in recent years.

Many people envision robot waiters as a solution to the food service industry's labor shortages, with tens of thousands deployed in dining rooms globally.

Some experts predict the technology will revolutionize the restaurant business, while others consider it a gimmick with limited capabilities.

Robot waiters are nevertheless expanding, with U.S. developer Bear Robotics expecting to have 10,000 Servi units deployed by year's end in the U.S. and overseas, while China's Pudu Robotics counts more than 56,000 robots in use worldwide.

Michigan State University's Karthik Namasivayam says perhaps 30% of restaurants ultimately will be staffed by humans, while the rest will deploy more automation in kitchens and dining rooms, especially as technology costs fall.

From Associated Press

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Restaurant AI Phone

 Just made sever reservations and payments at restaurants, is this good enough?  In the right direction.  

SoundHound Debuts Restaurant Voice AI Phone Service With Square Payment

ERIC HAL SCHWARTZ  in Voicebot.AI

SoundHound will integrate its phone-based voice assistant for restaurants with Square’s popular payment service. The new partnership combines the SoundHound for Restaurants voice assistant introduced last year with the Square’s point-of-sale system already widely used in foodservice. The announcement follows only a couple of days after SoundHound signed a significant long-term deal with Hyundai and only a month after the company went public on Nasdaq.

SOUNDHOUND SQUARE

SoundHound for Restaurants acts as a digital waiter when people call a restaurant to place an order for pick-up or delivery. Restaurant owners sync their menu and the appropriate phone number with the voice assistant, who answers every call so there’s no need for a customer to be put on hold. The voice assistant’s natural language interface understands what the customer is ordering, including changes made during the call. Once finished, the AI sends a confirmation to the customer, whose payment is then processed through Square’s POS system. The voice assistant is a subscription service for restaurant owners, with the cost depending on its use, though SoundHound is running a promotion waiving the subscription fee through the end of the year for those that sign up before July.

“At Square, we are seeing sellers leverage the latest technology to meet customer demand regardless of size or complexity,” Square head of restaurants Bryan Solar said. “Our partnership with SoundHound allows us to offer innovative and cost-effective solutions to restaurants working with small profit margins and facing multiple challenges—including the high cost of rapid labor turnover and shortages. This integration provides our sellers with the tools they need to offer a consistently high-level of customer service.”

FOOD AI

Restaurant voice assistants are starting to appear at an accelerating rate at chains like Marcos Pizza and Checkers, which has struck deals with both Valyant AI and Presto to embed a drive-thru voice assistant at its franchises and corporate-owned locations, respectively. Meanwhile, McDonald’s sold its McD Tech Labs to IBM and began a collaboration to develop an automated drive-thru service late last year. SoundHound’s previous experiments leveraging its conversational AI for restaurants also centered on drive-thrus. ...

Restaurants Ready for Robotics

 Seen lots of evidence for this.   Are robotics ready to take up the slack?  Have yet to see a robot in action at a restaurant.  Inevitable to take up significant work, but how much and when?

 Desperate for Workers, Restaurants Turn to Robots

The New York Times, Janet Morrisey,  October 20, 2021

Restaurant and hotel owners are using robots to compensate for the pandemic-fueled worker shortage. Miso Robotics' Mike Bell said his company is seeing 150 inquiries weekly for its Flippy robot, which can fry fast food using artificial intelligence (AI), sensors, computer vision, and robotic arms; he said such robots improve cooking accuracy and consistency, reducing errors that could lead to foodborne illness. Bear Robotics' Servi robot employs cameras and laser sensors to carry plates of food from the kitchen to tables. Knightscope's robots patrol outdoor or indoor areas using AI, video, and two-way audio, and also feature thermal imaging and license plate recognition capabilities. Industry experts think labor shortages have ramped up robots' acceptance in the workplace. ... ' 

Robots Doing the Kitchen Labor

 Intriguing to see where this is going, a close observer of process details and their improvement.  Opportunity is to do this right now. 

Amid the Labor Shortage, Robots Step in to Make the French Fries

The Wall Street Journal, Christopher Mims, August 7, 2021

Restauranteurs are implementing robots to automate food production amid a labor shortage and soaring demand for takeout and delivery. Entrepreneur Doug Foreman said increasingly affordable sensors and actuators and more accessible software, combined with automated food-handling systems, adds momentum to this trend. Barney Wragg at London-based robotics company Karakuri said, "The real challenge is, how do you make machines that can manipulate this peculiar, non-conformative, multi-dimensionally deformative substance." Startups are addressing this problem either by automating just one food-preparation step, or preparing one simple meal type, like a bowl. Many restaurateurs and executives considering kitchen automation are attracted to the technology's potential for consistency, reliability, and cost savings.  ... '