this post was submitted on 14 May 2025
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  • Robot chefs are replacing humans at some South Korean highway restaurants.
  • Tech companies say robots can help solve labor shortage in an aging nation.
  • Workers say their roles have been downgraded from chefs to cleaning staff.
top 23 comments
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[–] Goodtoknow 26 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

why is automation removing the joy and creativity of cooking instead of the dishes, which is what the person is left to do.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

What do you think a dishwasher is

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 hours ago

More work to prep dishes for washing than actual help

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 hours ago

So, why not just replace humans at odd hours of the night some rando walks in, and keep em during normal buisness hours?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I lived in Korea for a couple of years and ate at some of these places while traveling.

It was honestly always good. Basically you do a quick order, get a ticket, then get your food. I always got the fried pork cutlet. That shit was the bomb.

Now that I am back in the states I miss the level of care and dedication that Koreans put into the food they make and I’d go back again just for the eats.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 hours ago

They are useful when someone works late shifts and wants something proper at like 12pm when every kitchen worker has long gone home. They usually offer a more limited menu but it‘s honestly a neat idea.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

South Korea is genuinely fucked as a country. Population decline is going to ruin them. It's going to ruin a lot in the U.S as well.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 13 hours ago

The USA was actually on a survivable path with our low domestic birth rate because of the large immigration was compensating. Well, now we've fucked that up royally by kicking out our immigrants, and also made ourselves a pariah on the global stage so no new immigrants will want to come here.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Are they really making the food worse, or are people just biased against it because a robot made it? Because humans are perfectly capable of making shit food themselves as well

In any case, in a world where 1st world countries actually took care of their citizens this would be a non-issue. Either there would be some sort of UBI program in place for workers that get replaced by robots or a worker re-training program or a combination of both (e.g. people still have an income during that training).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 hours ago

Thats called "eyeballing the recipie"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Either there would be some sort of UBI program in place for workers that get replaced by robots

UBI wouldn't be just for workers that get replace by robots. The "U" in "UBI" is Universal, meaning everyone gets the Basic Income. From the guy with untreated mental illness that hangs out in the park to the richest billionaire.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Well yea, but rolling it out slowly as people get "displaced" is how it would realistically get started IMO. It would be quite a taxing program for any country to just suddenly start

[–] Sturgist 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

The problem is that SK(and a vast majority of the rest of the world) have declining birth rates. South Korea doesn't have a "staffing" issue, they have a people being born issue. And most of the rest of us are gonna start feeling it soon too!

If something drastic doesn't change for SK soon, in 30-60 years they won't have enough people working to cover pensions, let alone UBI.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

You can pay for ubi by taxing the robots, both physical and digital.

UBI is entirely possible if we transfer just a fraction of the wealth from corporations back to people.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 hours ago

You can pay for ubi by taxing the robots, both physical and digital.

This suggestion is raised frequently, and quickly falls apart under scrutiny.

Give you me your definition of a "digital robot".

[–] [email protected] 7 points 14 hours ago

These have been in use in German cantinas for a while as well. Usually inside hospitals or larger office spaces.

[–] veeesix 2 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Never thought about it before, but is there science fiction with a premise where humans might someday forget how to cook because it’s no longer a part of the culture?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Star trek touches on it a bit. Some people definitely still cook in the shows, but it's almost seen as a thing for special occasions.

[–] veeesix 1 points 9 hours ago

That’s a good point! SNW does have Pike cooking for some of his crew on occasion.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Not off the top of my head. Cooking is frequently a recreational hobby though, it's essentially an art form. So I think it's about equally likely that dancing, painting or making music fade away.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Sewing is fading away but maybe that's different enough

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

People do crossstitch and make unique outfits all the time. Everyone not in rich consumer countries (and the poorer people in those countries) all learn at least basic stiching.