Those from the 90s may remember The Jetsons cartoon. It featured a family living in a future where robots did everything, including basic chores like cooking and cleaning.
Nowadays, many aspects of that show are real, and more will manifest soon. Specifically, a California startup recently launched the world’s first AI restaurant.
Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) handle most of the work, from taking orders to cooking food. As a result, it requires fewer people to operate than conventional dining establishments.
How does this AI restaurant work?
CBS News reported on this AI-powered diner on January 6, 2024. It says the restaurant is from Miso Robotics, the creator of Flippy and PopID.
Flippy is the world’s first AI-powered robotic fry station, and PopID is a tech firm that facilitates ordering with biometrics.
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The CaliExpress customer experience begins when people enter the AI restaurant and order their food from self-ordering kiosks with their PopID accounts.
Then, they can watch as the grill robot Flippy “grinds the high-quality beef in real-time after the order is placed, resulting in a burger party that melts in the mouth.”
Moreover, Flippy “will serve up crispy, hot fries made from top-grade potatoes that are always cooked to exact times.”
At the time of writing, CaliExpress has a simple menu with a hamburger, cheeseburger, lettuce wrap, french fries, and beverages.
“To our knowledge, this is the world’s first operating restaurant where both ordering and every single cooking process are fully automated,” said John Miller, CEO of PopID and board member of Miso Robotics, in an official press release.
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“The marriage of these various technologies to create the most autonomous restaurant in the world is the culmination of years of research, development, and investment in a family of revolutionary companies.”
Cali Group, the holdings company behind CaliExpress, says its process keeps kitchen employees safe. It claims it eliminates slippage and burns and reduces food and oil waste.
“The CaliExpress by Flippy kitchen can be run by a much smaller crew, in a less stressful environment, than competing restaurants — while also providing above average wages,” the group stated.
Soon, this technology may expand outside the US as other countries already use parts of it. For example, fast food restaurants in the Philippines already have self-ordering kiosks.