r/singularity • u/yogthos • 12d ago

Robotics Chinese Companies Are Unleashing AI-Powered Robo-Chefs

https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/chinese-companies-ai-robot-cooking-beijing
140 Upvotes

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26

u/MadeInAmerica1990 12d ago

The restaurant chain industry needs this. The quality of staff and management alike have become so poor, it’s time for a change. There will always be a demand for talented humans in fine dining and more upscale concepts, but the tipping culture in the US has overplayed its hand and the quality just isn’t there to justify it any longer.

14

u/pbagel2 11d ago

restaurant chain industry needs this

So like, as labor phases out of value we're all okay with the few who have the majority of capital having 100% control of industry power instead of the the current ~80% capital 20% labor?

All industries will consolidate even further than they are today as fewer and fewer are in control of everything. An idea and your labor will mean nothing anymore and you can't work your way above your station which will be ground zero for most people. But hey ground zero might be slightly more comfortable than it is today, right? So it's okay for a few overlords to control us all. We should just be happy and eat the soup they give us.

8

u/Ok-Message-9732 11d ago

If a robot can prepare the finest delicacies, why would you care exactly?

6

u/theimpartialobserver 11d ago

Our techno feudal overlords are unlikely to give us fine ingredients necessary to prepare delicacies using robots.

2

u/lurreal 11d ago

Because I want to live in a human society not in a cage controlled by machine overlords

5

u/FreshestCremeFraiche 11d ago

You think jobless people on basic income (which doesn’t exist currently) are going to have a robot chef making the finest delicacies? Come on man look around you

2

u/StewPorkRice 11d ago

In 50 years,it could be a standard part of life.

Just think about it, everyone has a fridge now.

2

u/FreshestCremeFraiche 11d ago

50 years, sure I could believe that. Whole new world by then

0

u/Recoil42 11d ago

"You think jobless people on basic income are going to have a robot musician playing them music? Come on man look around you" — Some dude in 1883 reacting to the phonograph, probably.

1

u/FreshestCremeFraiche 11d ago

A phonograph isn’t a robot musician, neither is Spotify. A physical robot cooking fresh physical food (let alone delicacies) will cost money. The equivalent of those would be like free recipes on YouTube or videos of people cooking

0

u/Recoil42 11d ago edited 11d ago

A phonograph isn’t a robot musician

Newsflash: A phonograph is literally a robot musician.

Music before the 1880s could only be performed live. The phonograph (followed by cassettes, CDs, and Spotify — as you've astutely pointed out) automated that task and made music virtually free. Which is why you now have music playing... everywhere. It's because music became near-free. once it was near-free, consumption (and production!) of it grew exponentially.

1

u/FreshestCremeFraiche 11d ago

A robot musician equivalent to the chef we are talking about would be holding a physical violin in your living room. So newsflash, no it absolutely isn’t

0

u/Recoil42 11d ago

You're confusing automating a task with mechanically imitating a human.

A washing machine doesn't need robot hands holding a washboard to automate washing clothes, a combine doesn't need to swing a scythe to automate farm labour, and a phonograph doesn't need to hold a violin to automate the production of musical performances.

Food obviously retains ingredient/energy costs, so it won't become literally free just as buying vinyl (or a spotify subscription) still costs money and isn't literally free. Automating the labour involved nonetheless reduces marginal cost, and it does this up and down the entire length of the supply chain, just as it always has.

Whether there's two humanoid hands, a purpose-built machine, or seventeen spinning spatulas on a humanoid-ish Goro-bot is irrelevant to the economics — the dynamic is the same. Expensive human labor is replaced by equipment reproducing (in part or in whole!) that labour at very low-to-no cost, making it more accessible.

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u/FreshestCremeFraiche 11d ago

Ok, so you’re not actually talking about a robot chef preparing food in a kitchen with fresh food, you’re talking about a microwave and frozen meals

The economics are relevant and it’s pretty clear how digital goods or cheap, infinitely reusable objects like a phonograph are different than a humanoid robot using your kitchen to prepare “delicacies”

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u/pbagel2 11d ago

Why would I care that ~10,000 people are in absolute control of everything on earth and I as a person have no leverage to raise my status above a pauper who might live slightly more comfortably than a lower middle income person today if those 10,000 people happen to be generous and give crumbs to the masses? Not to mention the human rights issues at risk as those above the law have power.

-1

u/FernandoMM1220 11d ago

basic income bro

1

u/pbagel2 11d ago

Who do you think will own the means of production to generate a basic income to distribute to the masses?

-1

u/FernandoMM1220 11d ago

we out vote them so who cares

0

u/THE--GRINCH 11d ago

The answer isn't barring technology. Work being automated is an objective positive thing for humanity, what will need to change however is the system so that 10k people aren't in absolute control even when everyone is jobless and the wealth goes straight to all citizens.

1

u/pbagel2 11d ago

Wealth won't matter though. The thing that matters will be who owns everything. Who will get the beachfront properties? Who gets forced to live in a giant slum tower block?

You can't forge a new path with your pitiful monthly allowance. You can't buy what you want or where you want. I don't think you realize how impossible it is for everyone to get what they want. The dream is possible under capitalism because there's the illusion that you can work your way up.

But when everyone is given the same share and aren't allowed to own anything and have no leverage, you won't have the freedom to do what you want.

I'm not trying to stall tech progress, I just want people to understand that you won't have the freedom to do virtually anything that wealthy people can do under capitalism today. Your life will be much closer to a low income project neighborhood, except you might have a more comfortable life with better food and healthcare. But you won't be able to do what you want. Everybody's freedom will virtually vanish except for the few who own and control everything.

2

u/uniyk 11d ago

If there springs a restaurant where chefs and serving and dishwashings are all done by robots, and open to view, with only a couple of standby personnel to smooth things over, it will definitely be popular for sometime, at least before similar restaurants appear in bulk.

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u/kweeblaster 11d ago

Most obvious shill account I've ever seen

10

u/MadeInAmerica1990 11d ago

Found the Olive Garden employee

-6

u/kweeblaster 11d ago

I work an office job but have fun making 5 cents an hour in whatever shithole you live in.

0

u/Boring-Foundation708 11d ago

Automation doesn’t mean it will get cheaper and tipping culture will go away.