robot butler
Would You like Your Service Today Live or Programmed, Madam? Part II
Steven Ferry | December 17, 2015
By Steven Ferry Last month, Part I of this article traced the history of robots in hospitality from Ancient Greek times to the first workplace application at GM 50 years ago, and the exponential progress made in robotics since then with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence, and the rapid encroachment into the workplace, including hotels now being run mainly by robots. Surprisingly, and little known, is the fact that there is a convergence between humans and robots: the effort to make robots capable of everything and more that humans are capable of, and humans being "improved" with robotics. In just 15 years, the expectation by th...
Would You like Your Service Today Live or Programmed, Madam? Part I
Steven Ferry | November 30, 2015
By Steven Ferry Preamble In the 1990's, I interviewed several futurists who, amongst other predictions, anticipated the omnipresence of robots in the workforce. In 2001 (unrelated to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey), I spoke at a butler convention about a convergence of "hominids" (humans) and robots: the robots becoming more human and the humans becoming more robotic—and warned that this did not augur (signal) well for humans who preferred superior service. Hospitality, basic definition is friendly, which comes from an Indo-European root word meaning love. Met any friendly robots recently, ones who expressed their heartfe...
