Customers who’ve been to a Milpitas Denny’s location on S. Abbott Avenue may have met the spot’s new employee, a robotic server.
Nicknamed “Sunny,” the new “server” has only been working since April 13, yet it has taken social media by a storm. Some employees said customers have visited the restaurant asking for the robot rather than the food.
This is a great idea and more companies should look into robot servers.
“People come in and always ask for the robot, one time a group of kids ordered one serving of french fries just to have Sunny deliver it,” said Tasha Morales, a server at the Milpitas Denny’s. “It does help us during rush hour.”
Running off a rechargeable battery, the robot itself seems straight out of a movie. Sunny is around three feet tall, has a clean white paint, gray trim and a green underlight that works as sensors so it doesn’t run into anything.
Servers can program the robot to deliver food, which is placed on its two levels.
Being able to witness the robot makes customers feel like they’re in a movie.
When I saw Sunny move around the restaurant, I could hear the music from the boxing movie “Rocky IV,” when Paulie Pennino received his birthday robot from Rocky. Instead of the robot saying “Happy Birthday Paulie,” it brings your order, then beeps and boops and goes to the next order.
But Morales said the robot doesn’t do well transporting drinks.
“The first time I put an order on Sunny, [it] cut the corner too fast and spilled the drink,” Morales said. “We all decided that [it] can just carry food.”
Sunny can be seen zooming around the floor delivering customers their orders. Although the robot can't take orders, many employees think the robot has been a big help around the restaurant.
While a robot can be seen as helpful, some think this is the start of humans losing their jobs to machines.
“It is kind of scary to see a robot doing a human job,” said Mary Hernandez, a San Jose resident. “Robots can be more efficient than humans. I would not be surprised if 10 years from now robots serving us is the new normal.”
While robots can be beneficial, it’s reminiscent of the beginning of the film “Terminator,” where Skynet starts to build helpful robots, then they take over the world. It’s a farfetched take, but the chance of it happening is scary.
Robots also pose the threat of dangerous accidents if they malfunction.
In 2015, Wanda Holbrook was killed in an accident by a car manufacturing robot in Detroit, Michigan, according to a March 14, 2017 Detroit Free Press article. Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
But with careful measures robots assisting in the workplace will be productive without taking away human interaction.
“Having a robot around is a big help,” said Morales. “Although, I feel like customers want the human touch and interaction when they come in. You lose that when a robot is serving you.”
Sunny is just the start of robots helping humans out and it should be normalized.
