The Future of Work: Enter the Robots

Insights November 1st, 2015

Robots, robots, robots. Press is alive with the sound of fear and hope about what robots can do for us. They have been around for a very long time and now the price point has dropped to the point that they will start to become more ubiquitous and accessible by businesses. In fact, they will help a lot of businesses flourish with fewer staff.

In The Future of Work: Enter the Robots we look at at how the hotel and restaurant industries are being revolutionized with lower cost robotic staff.

Inside the Japanese Hotel Staffed by Robots

Japan can be found at the forefront of robotics research and the country has brought us some of the weirdest automatons, most lifelike androids, and cutest helper-bots.

At Nagasaki’s Henn-na Hotel, a new hotel that opened this year, robots run most parts of the business. When you arrive you are greeted by a mechanised dinosaur (it’s equal parts fun and completely crazy) will guide you through check-in; head to your room and a luggage bot will bring your suitcase along beside you; get ready for bed and your own little robot friend will turn out the lights.

Check out this video with Motherboard’s Ben Ferguson as he checks into and checks out the robot hotel. Lost In Translation?

The Robotic World Takeover Starts In Our Restaurants

Mechanical staff greet customers, deliver dishes to tables and even stir-fry meat and vegetables at the eatery in Kunshan, which opened last week. Two robots are stationed by the door to cheerfully greet customers, while four short but humanoid machines carry trays of food to the tables. In the kitchen, two large blue robots with glowing red eyes specialize in frying, while another is dedicated to making dumplings.

Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, from The Young Turks, discuss (I also love what Jayar Jackson is throwing down).