New order? China restaurant debuts robot waiters 最新點餐方式？中國餐廳機器人服務生首度亮相
(CNN)-It's
tempting to herald each new announcement of humankind's glorious automated
future with the same PR enthusiasm as the creators of our latest computerized
advances.
We've
bought into the hype ourselves from time to time.
用和我們最新電腦化進步的創造者相同的公關熱情，去傳達每一個關於人類光明的自動化未來的信息是很吸引人的。
而我們時常對這樣的炒作買單。
Like
when we proclaimed science fiction as "science fact" after a Japanese
hotel unveiled its ultra-creepy robot staff.
But
this week we've been asking ourselves how big a step forward is having our
dumplings and roasted duck delivered to us by uncoordinated cyborgs.
就像在日本旅館推出極詭異的機器人員工之後，我們就聲稱科學的幻想成了事實。
但是這個禮拜，我們不斷的在省思，由肢體不協調的生化機器人遞送水餃和烤鴨給我們，是多顯著的進步。
When
the "Taste and Aroma" restaurant in Guiyang, capital of China's
Guizhou province, rolled out its new robotic wait staff this week, we thought,
"Cool, let's check it out." (See video above.)
Trouble
is, robot waiters have been bleeping and blorping in restaurants across China
since at least 2014 and often haven't lived up to expectations.
當中國貴州省首都貴陽的品味留香餐廳，於本周推出其最新的機器人服務生，我們會想：酷！我們去看看吧！
但糟糕的是，機器人服務生自從2014年開市就在中國各地發出嗶嗶啵啵的聲音，且常常不符合人們的期待。
On
April 4, China's Workers' Daily newspaper reported that three restaurants in
the Chinese city of Guangzhou recently sacked their robotic staff for
incompetence.
"Not
only could robots not carry food with too much soup, they also frequently break
down," a staffer was quoted as saying.
"So
our boss has stopped using them."
Two
of the restaurants reliant on the machine servers actually had to close down.
根據一位員工的說詞：「機器人不只不能端湯太滿的食物，他們還經常故障，所以我們老闆不再用他們了。」
其中兩家依賴機器人服務的餐廳已經歇業了。
Dumb waiters?
While
on first glance the five new robots at "Taste and Aroma" seem
super-futuristic, it turns out they can only move along fixed paths and are
unable to respond to requests from customers.
服務生太笨？
一開始在品味留香餐廳看到五個新的機器人時，似乎很超未來，但結果他們只能在固定的道路上行動，而且無法回應顧客的要求。
Frankly,
we expect more from our interns -- who on their first day in the office can be
programmed to fetch tea and coffee faster and cheaper than the $6,500 (each)
Chinese kitchen bots.
Don't
get us wrong.
坦白說，我們對於實習生，還要求的更多，要他們第一天上班就訓練成能比每一個中國要價6500美元的廚房機器人，更便宜且更快速地遞送茶跟咖啡。
別誤解我們的意思了。
We're
still interested in the future -- and robots.
Next
time we're in Guiyang, we might even order a bowl of noodles from one.
Assuming
it's been pre-loaded with gawking-tourist empathy, we might force it to pose
for pictures with us.
我們仍然對未來，甚至是機器人抱持著興趣。
下一次在貴陽時，我們甚至可能會向機器人點一碗麵。
如果說它預先被載入觀光客的同理心，我們可能還會使他擺姿勢跟我們照相。
Local
Guizhou media even vouched for their uniformity (report in Chinese), suggesting
they won't discriminate between different customers.
But
until they're able to deliver our food as efficiently as the servers on roller
skates back at the old 1950s drive-ins, we're not going to worry too much about
their takeover of the world.
當地貴州的媒體甚至還擔保機器人的一致性(中文報導)，而且表示他們不會因為不同顧客而有差別待遇。
但是到他們能夠像1950年代得來速的服務生，穿著溜冰鞋也能如此有效率的遞送食物之前，我們不用太擔心他們會掌控世界。
