Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Friday 7 June 2019
Robot baristas are latest front in S. Korea automation push

By JUNG YOON KIM The 24/7 denim shop lets
Associated Press customers try on jeans and
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) pay using a self-service
— Are robot baristas the digital system without hav-
future of South Korea's vi- ing to deal with sales staff,
brant coffee culture? though sometimes tech-
Dal.komm Coffee thinks so. nical glitches can pose a
The company now has 45 problem.
robot-equipped outlets in "I can freely look around
shopping malls, company and try on jeans as much
cafeterias, schools and an as I like without being both-
airport. ered," said Kim Kun Woo,
Coffee is just one of many 29.
industries that could be Back at Dal.komm Cof-
transformed by automated fee, a robot can brew 90
services in this tech-forward cups an hour and about
nation, a notion both excit- 300 cups a day on a single
ing and worrisome as jobs charge of beans and sup-
become scarcer. plies. The drinks cost $2 to
South Korean industries, $3.
including restaurants, Managers visit once a day
convenience stores, su- on average to inspect and
permarkets, banks and clean the robots. They also
manufacturers, are rely- monitor them remotely
ing increasingly on robots through surveillance cam-
and other automation. But eras and sensors.
not without consequence: In this May 22, 2019, photo, a customer waits for a coffee in front of a robot named b;eat after While some customers like
Many Koreans, especially placing an order at a cafe in Seoul, South Korea. the convenience and nov-
the young, are struggling to Associated Press elty of robot coffee, some
find work. don't.
At a Dal.komm Coffee your coffee more easily." gates after complaints over by 2023. "Personally I prefer human
shop in Seoul, a robot baris- South Korea's minimum losing 6,700 jobs. Instead, It's a welcome trend for baristas more because
ta takes orders remotely wage has jumped by 27.3 the system will be partially some younger people. the robot can't custom-
through a mobile app or ki- percent over the last two automated and keep all its "Currently, Millennials — ize drinks as delicately as
osk cashier and then brews years, adding to the incen- current toll collectors. those who were born after humans can. I like weak
fresh coffee. tive to cut labor costs by South Korea has been 1980 — are prime consum- coffee, but the robot is un-
Less than a minute later, using automation, says Suh an early and enthusiastic ers. This generation tends able to control the strength
the robot sends a 4-digit Yong Gu, dean of the Busi- adopter of automation, to not like meeting other of the coffee well," said a
code the customer can use ness School at Sookmyung with the highest density people, so they favor ... 30-year-old office worker,
to open a pick-up box. The Women's University in Seoul. of industrial robots in the technology that enables Lee Sang Jin, who visits the
robot can handle up to 14 On Tuesday, workers who world in 2017, at 710 robots people to minimize face- robot cafe occasionally.
drinks at a time. Drinks not operate about 2,500 tow- per 10,000 manufacturing to-face interactions with There can also be delays
retrieved within 10 minutes er cranes staged a strike, workers, according to the others," said Suh, the busi- when a robot is juggling a
are thrown away, but an- protesting growing use of International Federation of ness school dean. lot of orders, Lee said.
other drink can be ordered unmanned small tower Robotics. At a recently opened un- Later this year, the robot's
at no extra charge. cranes at construction sites. The global average was manned jeans store — developer says it plans
"It's really fun and conve- Labor unions also have pro- 85 robots per 10,000 em- LAB101 — in the trendy to launch a faster and
nient," said Choi Eun Jin, a tested use of automated ployees, according to the Seoul neighborhood of smarter version of the ro-
30-year-old office worker. check-out counters at group, an international in- Hongdae a heavy iron bot cafe that will be able
"The area is crowded with Emart, South Korea's big- dustry non-profit that keeps door opens automatically to recognize voices and
office workers and local gest supermarket chain. track of data on robotics. when visitors swipe their customer movements and
residents during lunchtime. Officials also revised initial Despite worries over job credit cards in a machine offer personalized menu
So it's good to have a robot plans to completely auto- losses, South Korea's food beside the entrance. suggestions.q
like this ... so you can get mate all the nation's toll- and retail businesses are
replacing cashiers with au-
tomated kiosks. Fast-food
chain Lotteria has kiosks in
more than 800 of its 1,350
stores. KFC has installed
digitized cashiers in all of its
stores.
In 2017, South Korea's 5.5
trillion won ($4.7 billion) ro-
bot market was among the
top five, along with China,
Japan, the U.S. and Ger-
many, which together ac-
counted for over 70% of all
In this May 22, 2019, photo, customers wait for coffees in front of robot sales. In this May 24, 2019, photo, customer Park Eun Ji, left, and Kim
a robot named b;eat after placing an order at a cafe in Seoul, The government is aiming Kun Woo look around an unmanned jeans shop in Seoul, South
South Korea. to expand that market to Korea.
Associated Press 15 trillion won ($12.7 billion) Associated Press