The world's first "hotel of robots" laid off half of its robot employees because they were not up to the task. Of the 243 machines, only half remained - the rest were replaced by people, since their work was considered more efficient. According to the WSJ, the problems arose very different, but most of them related to the fact that robots cannot yet perform even part of human responsibilities.
For example, the hotel reception was decorated with two robots (velociraptors), which supposedly were supposed to help with the check-in. In fact, people did all the work for them, since the machines were unable to make copies of documents. In addition, the guests were greeted by a robot assistant who could not even tell what sights there are near the hotel (even voice assistants are now capable of this).
The problem also arose with robotic porters who could not work in bad weather, did not deliver luggage to all rooms and constantly collided with each other, losing precious suitcases. In the rooms themselves, everything was not going smoothly either: the guests complained that robots woke them up at night.
Since the hotel in Japan was opened back in 2015, the founders admit that many robots are already outdated, but even the current level of technology development does not allow even 70% to abandon human participation. Still, the hotel business involves frequent communication with visitors and solving their problems, which robots are simply not capable of.
The hotel also has a number of other high-tech solutions: for example, you can get into your room by going through the face recognition procedure. This eliminates the need to carry around a key that can be easily lost. For those who do not want to use face recognition technology, magnetic key cards are provided. Each room is equipped with a radiant microclimate system that uses electromagnetic waves to transfer heat from one object to another without heating or cooling the air between them.
Alexander Bogdanov
Promotional video:
