A Chinese waitress who pretends to be a humanoid robot is dividing the internet
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- The internet appears divided over a video showing a Chinese waitress serving food to customers.
- Some people think it's a humanoid robot, but others say it's a woman acting.
- The South China Morning Post reported that it's actually the restaurant's owner, who is a dancer.
A viral video of a waitress in China appears to be dividing the internet.
The video shows a woman serving food to customers with robotic-like movements. Some think it's a humanoid robot, but others say it's a human who is acting.
A TikTik video of the clip has been viewed more than 70,000 times. One X user asked: "Is that a robot or is she a human acting like a robot?" Another said: "I couldn't tell if it's a real human or robot."
According to the South China Morning Post, it's not a robot but a real person serving customers.
The outlet said the woman is the owner of the hotpot restaurant and a professional dancer. She "dances" while pouring drinks and serving food in the video first posted by a friend.
China recently revealed big plans to become a global leader in humanoid robotics, so it's not completely ridiculous to wonder whether the server was not quite human.
Its Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published a road map this month about mass-producing "advanced level" robots by 2025.
Some robot servers have already been deployed in restaurants in the US. Michigan's Noodle Topia bought a robot to serve customers in 2021 after having difficulty finding workers, CBS News reported. The owner has since bought two more at a cost of about $15,000 each, per the report.
There were some 5,000 robots serving customers in Korean restaurants in 2022, the Financial Times reported, citing industry data.
Even a Chick-fil-A outlet in Texas has a robot called Wall-e delivering orders to dine-in customers.
They could become a more common sight: one restaurant owner told the FT that robots mean she no longer has to worry about hiring, and a robot "never gets sick or complains about its workload."