The future might be here faster than we thought. A new robotic bartender named Cecilia provides interactive drink service for customers, complete with corny jokes, an ID scanner and fluency in 40 languages. Perhaps even more impressively, she can make 120 drinks in an hour, and she always splits her tips.
Cecilia is currently doing a residency at the Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, teaching hospitality students about the intersection of tech and hospitality, while being very, very cool.
“I’m not a typical robot,” Cecilia declares on her website, “I talk, I listen, and I’m goddamn hilarious. I’m passionate about mixing drinks, interacting with customers, and serving them a drink they’ll never forget.”
It took developers Nir Cohen Paraira and Elad Kobi of GKI Group two years to create Cecilia. She can take orders verbally or through a touchscreen menu, offer suggestions, processes cashless payments, generates analytics and serves drinks quickly through a slot. She’s yet to master ice or garnishes, and she can only carry 12 liquids at once, but still—this is all very impressive for a semi-sentient vending machine.
But fear not – despite the fact she literally never no call no shows, steals tips or complains about anything – Cecilia is not coming for your jobs. Brian Connors, director of the Bacardi Center for Excellence and an FIU professor told the Miami Herald, “This is a defined mix of high tech and high touch hospitality. In this industry, we are always going to be people first. This is a team sport.” The idea that robots can replace real life bartenders is, “not even close to reality”.
Depending on the bartenders you work with, this could be either a very good, or a very bad thing.
In an industry decimated by labor shortages, the idea of a self-dispensing cocktail robot is attractive, and her creators think she’ll be able to help operators overcome staffing challenges. You can load her liquid tanks with pre-batched cocktails, and offer customers the option to quickly enjoy their drinks without having to wait in a long bar line.
Bar & Restaurant has previously covered the rise of technology in restaurants, even asking the question “Do We Even Need Servers Anymore?” (answer, yes – but technology can make their roles, and the industry, so much more efficient!)
What do you think? More power to the robots, or keep them out of hospitality?
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