Humanoid Robot Server

Recently, Marnye Moore and I were at a restaurant, and the server did her job. She was efficient and polite but had zero personality whatsoever. She didn’t smile, there was no casual conversation, and there was no attempt to connect with us as customers.

This experience reminded me of a LinkedIn article I wrote previously titled The Customer No-Service Economy. If you haven't read it, it provides the background for what follows.

In that article, I discussed how I increasingly find myself selecting the app or kiosk over a human because I increasingly come across people who have no customer service skills and are sometimes rude and dismissive. At least with the app or kiosk, I know what I'm getting: efficiency, accuracy, and nothing more.

At the restaurant, it occurred to me that a humanoid robot could have replaced this server and would have likely been programmed to have a better personality than this human.

The question that continually comes to me is, "What's really driving companies to replace people with robots and machines?" I think we all tend to believe it's all about cost and efficiency. But is it? Perhaps it's because employers are finding it increasingly difficult to hire people who consistently provide an experience that's better than the technology.

When customers begin preferring an app, a kiosk, or someday even a humanoid robot over interacting with another person, perhaps the more important question isn't whether AI will replace more people. Perhaps it's why humans are becoming so easy to replace.

Maybe companies are not only replacing people because robots are less expensive, more efficient, and more predictable than humans. Maybe they're replacing people because too many humans have lost the capability or the desire to interact with other humans in a fun and engaging manner, making it increasingly difficult for employers to expect—let alone require—that level of customer service.

If your customers would rather interact with a machine than one of your employees, who really has the problem?