They Work Among Us: Robot Bartenders

A new trend in the tech industry that might affect your job

As the world advances it swags with it new technologies which help make things done faster and easier. Like Enter Cecilia, a bartender who is based on artificial intelligence, she can mix and serve cocktails as well as talk to customers the same way Siri or Alexa does.

According to Bernd Debusmann Jr on BBC,“The unit looks a bit like a tall fruit machine, only with an animated female barmaid — Cecilia — appearing on a large, upright video screen. You either tell her what cocktail you want, or order it on the below touch-screen, and pay for the drink by tapping your bank card or phone.

Your cocktail is then mixed and made inside the machine, and dispensed into a glass at the vending slot.”

The company says each unit can be filled with 70 liters of different types of spirits, and it can serve up to 120 cocktails per hour. At least, if customers don’t stay for extended chats. And it costs $45,000 (£34,000), or you could hire one for $2,000 a month. It was first released on the 24th of February 2021, that’s the year we’re still in if you are in an alternate universe. Also, that’s World Bartender Day, I didn’t know there was a world bartender day either.

Now isn’t that just amazing, an AI bartender that doesn’t threaten either your life or job? Alright, I’m on it. I can already hear your thoughts giggling with “How bitch” as the headline. Well here it is, and I’m also gonna prove that I am not a bitch.

The Life side

First of all, having to deal with a rude no-smiles-on-face person in a bar or pub looks very life-threatening, considering we all watch movies, and we know what happens when Jason Statham frowns at a dude. Apart from that, having to see a frowning bartender serve your drink ad makes it look like a bad drink and will also make you uncomfortable, it might as well ruin your happy time. I know you don’t want that, are you kidding me? Nobody does.

So, Cecilia was designed to be fast, as well as friendly. Also according to Elad Kobi, chief executive of the Israeli firm behind the technology — Cecilia.AI “Cecilia works on voice recognition and AI technology. She can chat to customers, and when they choose a specific cocktail, she can make it, live.”

Also, Alan Adojaan, the chief executive of Yanu, an Estonian company that recently unveiled a rival bartending robot said for customers who like to chat with their bartender. The robots will gain more and more human-like personalities over time. He says…

“We’re trying to develop something… that can hold a conversation, or crack a joke, ask if you liked your drink, or suggest another one,” he says. “The most interesting part of the project is the effort to make it [appear] alive, or have character.”

Considering the fact that cracking jokes is a win-win situation, she has nothing to lose. If her jokes don’t make us laugh, we’ll just say she has a sense of humor. And if it does, we’ll say she’s funny. Concerning the human bartenders, He (Mr. Adojaan) said…

“First, having a discussion with a bartender is a cliche from the movies, at least here in Europe. And in a nightclub, you don’t have a discussion. You shout at the bartender to get your drink faster.”

The bar staff themselves, he adds, often have the unenviable task of dealing with “obnoxious drunk people”. “As with other jobs that aren’t enjoyable, or artistic, on a daily basis, they’ll get replaced by robots.” Now if you ask me yelling at a bartender is also life-threatening.

Before we move to the job site, look at this, it does give free drinks, you saw that right. Mr. Adojaan says the robot staff could be overly generous at the pouring of measures, or even give free drinks to friends, as the owner venues “given”.

“For instance,” says Mr. Adojaan. “If someone orders a gin and tonic on a Yanu (costs around $150,000), you (the owner) can specify that the robot pours four centimeters of gin, and the exact amount of tonic and lemon juice.” Now that’s just cool.

As Harry Gordon Johnson once said: “The greatest accomplishment of a bartender lies in his ability to exactly suit his customer.”

I could hear someone’s thoughts ringing “how do I get a free drink?” (by now you’ve should have noticed that I read thoughts). She doesn’t look like an angel, she’s a robot. Sincerely, I don’t know how to get a free drink either, so try being friendly as well as a regular customer.

The Job Side

In chapter two of proving I am not a bitch, we have the “doesn’t threaten jobs either.” So there is the big question “Should human bar staff be worried?” First of all, bartending robots are designed especially for places with a huge turnover of clients. Do you still remember the Mr. Adojaan guy, well he said: “The main issue when you have a venue is a constant problem with the workforce,” so he says.

“We are aiming for places that have a huge turnover of clients, such as sports events, festivals or nightclubs,” The machine is very fast — it can work as fast as three and a half bartenders and make 100 drinks an hour. It can hold up to 1,200 drinks.” In his own words… “There’s always a shortage of workers. You have to train them, but then they leave. There’s a huge turnover of staff.” And this robot can help fix that problem.

While Cecilia.AI aims the system at hotels, airports, stadiums, casinos, and cruise ships, so to help them become more efficient. Jan Hiersemenzel, the head of marketing for Swiss firm F&P Robotics, which makes a robot bartender called Barney Bar says… “Robots will not replace traditional [human-staffed] bars. Standalone robot bars are [instead] being set up at entertainment and hospitality venues, or at events where otherwise no traditional bar would have been set up.”

Furthermore, you’ve seen so many names of different people you might not know, right? I’m going to have to lie to you, this is the last name you’ll see. Emanuele Rossetti, the boss of Italian robot bartender maker Makr Shakr, says that while some human bartenders will lose their jobs, the hope is that they can find alternative work within the wider hospitality sector.

To help affected human bar staff it launched an initiative in the US in 2019, whereby for each sale of one of its units it would give a barman or woman $1,000 (£747) towards helping them retrain.

The fact is robots can’t take your job at bringing up ideas, so there are a ton of other jobs to do that can’t be taken away from you. Like writing, scriptwriting, designing, etc. You could also invest in the future, now there are a ton of successful people who can teach you. Moreover, what makes man unique is the different cool ways they think.

So you see how I made the big question a small one, god, I wish it was raining so the raindrops are going to sound like a round of applause, all for me.

More Sides

Also, bartending robots are designed to provide 24-hour service in environments in which doing so with a human bartender can prove costly and difficult. In Mr. Adojaan’s own words…

“Think of a 24-hour hotel lobby or an airport. For venues like that you’d need to hire three shifts of people, and that’s quite expensive,” Mr Adojaan says. “So those will be our playing grounds, mostly.”

You might be like: “What about the cuties? What about the pretty barwomen and barmen that get us tripping with their cool looks?”

MOVING ON

Alright, I am going to admit it, you’ve just scored a win, humans always look more beautiful. But we do see them around every day, don’t we? So what’s there to lose?

They (bartending robots) work among us as I speak. Seeing that Cecilia, as Bernd Debusmann Jr says, is already been used at corporate events held by Microsoft, a tech firm named Cisco, and an accountancy group KPMG. And, does anyone still remember Mark Shakr? Whether or not you do, here it is, their two robot models are called Toni and Bruno, and they have been installed on nine Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Also one of the Yanu robots is currently making alcohol-free cocktails at the Estonian pavilion at the World Expo event in Dubai.

So the next bartender that’s about to serve your next drink might be a robot. Have no fears, she isn’t the same robot from that movie Squid Game that killed everyone who over-danced at her scary song. And I’m not a bitch. So I guess this is where I say goodbye. Until next time guys, until next time.