First it was news anchors now the robots have come for the waiter/waitresses job too… It looks like all our jobs are now at risk of being replaced by robots. A group of young innovators from a local start-up Paaila Technology built Ginger, a 1.5 metre tall robot, from scratch and programmed her to understand both English and Nepali.
And guess what? Ginger, Nepal’s first robot waiter is ready to take your order.
“Please enjoy your meal,” says Ginger as she delivers a plate of steaming dumplings to a table of hungry customers.
The bilingual humanoid robot, Ginger is named after a common ingredient in Nepali cuisine. The three ‘Ginger’ work at Naulo restaurant in the dusty capital Kathmandu and can even crack jokes like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa.
This is our testing ground. We are fine tuning it with responses from our customers,” said Binay Raut, CEO of the company.
The team of 25 young engineers worked for months to build the robot, welding and moulding the prototype by hand in their tiny three-room office.
The restaurant, Naulo opened its doors four months ago and their robot waiters have been a big draw, attracting curious customers of all ages. Ginger, who is able to sense movement and obstacles, deftly navigates the crowded restaurant carrying trays laden with food.
Customers order via a touch screen menu fitted into the tables, and Ginger is called to the kitchen when dishes are ready.
“It was a completely new experience,” said 73-year-old Shalikram Sharma, who was born before televisions were available in Nepal.
Ginger has become quite a selfie-star and is often distracted from her work by children and adults alike who are keen to get a photo with the sleek robot.
“They look so good. I could not believe they were made in Nepal,” said Neelam Kumar Bimali, a diner enjoying an evening meal with his family.
With its eyes on the global market, Paila Technology is in the process of patenting its design to sell at home and abroad. The World Economic Forum recently predicted that by 2025 more than half of all jobs will be performed by robots.
Currently, a few human waiters help Ginger but an upgrade is in the works that should make Naulo restaurant entirely robot-run.
The new Ginger waitress comes barely a week after China unveiled it’s artificially intelligent robot anchors that can mimic human facial expressions and mannerisms while reading out reports.
With the way technology is evolving, many people might be rendered jobless after their work is replaced by robots. Do you think robots are a good technological advancement or are they a job security job threat to people around the world?