The use of robots in the hospitality sector raises a number of ethical, social and moral questions. And, it is that, to date, the robots had not been humanized and, therefore, they were being used as if it were another machine. Now everything has changed to such an extent that a robot can receive a tip from a person.
Yes, you read it right. The situation is somewhat crazy, but it has happened in Las Vegas and has been documented to later upload the video to TikTok. The video with a duration of 9 seconds opens a discussion that, until now, had not been taken into account. Is it fair to force a customer to tip a robot waiter?
The answer, for many, will be in the negative and, in fact, it is the logical answer since It does not make any sense to grace the service of a robot waiter with money in the same way that it would be if it were a human waiter. So why has this situation occurred?
The user, known as Uptin on TikTok, has decided to check out The Tipsy. This bar located in Las Vegas is not just any bar since different robots are working inside it, so to speak. In fact, It is these robots that are in charge of preparing the drinks for the customers.
This Las Vegas bar forces its customers to tip the different robot bartenders
Despite the fact that the situation allows the imagination to fly and it is believed that the robots that work in the bar have a human appearance, the truth is that the reality made by land is this imaginative premise. These capable robots of preparing drinks have more similarities with the industrial robots found in vehicle manufacturing plants.
It is important to take this into account since these industrial robots are not the ones who have logically requested the tip after their service or the ones who have interacted with the customer in question who has posted this video on TikTok. And, it is that, so that these robots capable of preparing drinks begin with the preparation a tablet must be used to place the order.
The tablet in which the different drinks are ordered marks the option of leaving a mandatory tip and, therefore, the decision behind it comes from the human mind. With this in mind, it is unethical to force someone to leave a tip as it could even be considered a form of extortion.
In addition, one important issue must be taken into account, which is the consideration of whether robots are entitled to receive tips since they do not have the basic economic needs as human workers do. This being one of the most important points when it comes to understanding the situation.
Of course, it is not the only point to take into account. And, is that, from a social point of view, the replacement of human workers by robots could have a negative impact on the economy. The reasons are obvious, one of them being the reduction in the number of available jobs that people will have access to.
But this would not be all, since it could also have an impact on social interaction, especially in the case of restaurants or, in this specific situation, a bar where human interaction is one more part of the general experience. Going to a bar in which it is mandatory to tip a robot that will not have any type of interaction is questionable to say the least.
The idea behind this bar can be good in general, since it is understood that the experience is almost like going to a zoo, only instead of animals there are robots preparing drinks. What happens is that the execution is unconvincing both due to the fact of forcing to leave tips and because there is no interaction at all.
In addition, by forcing them to leave their own, a standard or thought is established that this is something that should be accepted when it is not. Tips in any case must be delivered to human personnel who work in the hotel industry since the effort made is logically superior to that of a robot just because the person has decided to be there.
In short, it does not make any sense to force a robot to tip for the preparation of a drink or any type of food. These types of situations should not be normalized since they lack logic and it is not a future that human beings should approach. It may seem somewhat anecdotal, but it is not reasonable to participate in these approaches.
