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You may have already seen them in some restaurants around the world: robots.
你可能已經在世界各地的一些餐廳里看到過它們：機器人。
They are about the size of a child.
它們和小孩差不多大。
They can welcome people and lead them to their tables.
它們能歡迎客人，并自己能移動到桌子旁邊。
They can deliver food and drinks and bring dirty dishes back to the kitchen.
它們可以送食物和飲料，還能把臟盤子送回廚房。
Some have cat-like faces and even make noises when you scratch their heads.
有些機器人有貓臉，當你撓它們的頭時，它們甚至會發出聲音。
But are robot waiters the future?
但機器人服務員是未來嗎？
It is a question the restaurant industry is trying to answer.
這是餐飲業正在努力回答的一個問題。
Many people think robot waiters are the answer to worker shortages.
許多人認為機器人服務員是解決勞動力短缺的辦法。
Sales of robots have been growing in recent years.
近年來，機器人的銷量一直在增長。
There are tens of thousands of them now moving through eating places worldwide.
現在有數以萬計的機器人在世界各地的餐飲場所穿梭。
"There's no doubt in my mind that this is where the world is going," said Dennis Reynolds, head of the Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership at the University of Houston.
休斯頓大學希爾頓全球酒店管理學院院長丹尼斯·雷諾茲說：“在我看來，毫無疑問，這就是世界的發展方向?！?/p>
The school's restaurant began using a robot in December.
去年12月，該校的餐廳開始使用機器人。
Reynolds said it has eased the workload for humans and improved service.
雷諾茲表示，這減輕了人類的工作量，改善了服務質量。
But others say robot waiters still have a long way to go before they can replace humans.
但也有人表示，機器人服務員要取代人類還有很長的路要走。
They cannot take orders.
它們無法接受命令。
And they cannot walk up steps to different areas of a restaurant.
它們不能走上臺階去餐廳的不同區域。
"Restaurants are pretty chaotic places, so it's very hard to insert automation in a way that is really productive," said Craig Le Clair from the advising company Forrester.
咨詢公司Forrester的克雷格·勒克萊爾說：“餐廳是一個非?；靵y的地方，所以很難以一種真正高效的方式引入自動化?！?/p>
Still, the use of robots is growing.
盡管如此，機器人的使用量仍在增長。
California-based Bear Robotics introduced its Servi robot in 2021.
總部位于加利福尼亞州的Bear Robotics于2021年推出了Servi機器人。
The company expects to have 10,000 deployed by the end of this year in 44 U.S. states and overseas.
該公司預計到今年年底其將在美國44個州和海外部署1萬個機器人。
In China, Shenzen-based Pudu Robotics, which was founded in 2016, has deployed more than 56,000 robots worldwide.
在中國，總部位于深圳的普渡機器人公司成立于2016年，該公司已經在全球部署了超過5.6萬個機器人。
"Every restaurant chain is looking toward as much automation as possible," said Phil Zheng of Richtech Robotics, a maker of robot servers based in Austin, Texas.
總部位于得克薩斯州奧斯汀的機器人服務器制造商Richtech Robotics的菲爾·鄭說：“每家連鎖餐廳都在尋求盡可能多的自動化?！?/p>
"People are going to see these everywhere in the next year or two."
“在未來一兩年，人們將會隨處可見這些機器人?！?/p>
In Madison Heights, Michigan, Li Zhai was having trouble finding workers for his restaurant Noodle Topia in the summer of 2021.
2021年夏天，在密歇根州麥迪遜高地，李齋（音譯）的餐廳Noodle Topia很難找到工人。
So, he bought a robot from Pudu Robotics.
于是，他從普渡機器人公司買了一個機器人。
The robot was so successful he added two more; now, one robot leads diners to their seats while another delivers food to tables.
機器人非常成功，他又增加了兩個；現在，一個機器人把就餐者帶到他們的座位上，另一個機器人把食物送到餐桌上。
And his employees load dirty dishes onto a third robot to bring them back to the kitchen.
他的員工將臟盤子裝到第三個機器人上，把它們帶回廚房。
Zhai said he now needs three people to do the same work that five or six people used to do.
李齋說，他現在需要三個人來做以前五六個人做的工作。
And they save him money.
它們還幫他省錢了。
A robot costs around $15,000, he said, but a person costs him $5,000 to $6,000 per month.
他說，一個機器人的成本約為1.5萬美元，但一個人每月的成本為5000至6000美元。
Zhai noted that the robots give his human servers more time to spend with diners, which increases tips.
李齋指出，機器人讓他的人類服務員有更多的時間與用餐者在一起，從而增加了小費。
Tips are extra money given to food servers to reward them for their service.
小費指的是給服務員額外的錢，以獎勵他們的服務。
And diners often post videos of the robots on social media that lead to more visits.
用餐者經常在社交媒體上發布機器人的視頻，從而吸引更多人來光顧餐廳。
"Besides saving labor, the robots generate business," he said.
他說：“除了節省勞動力，機器人還能創造業務”。
Betzy Giron Reynosa at The Sushi Factory in West Melbourne, Florida said working with robots could be problematic.
佛羅里達州西墨爾本壽司工廠的貝齊·吉隆·雷諾薩表示，與機器人一起工作可能會有問題。
"You can't really tell it to move or anything," she said.
她說：“你真的不能讓它隨便移動”。
She has also had diners who do not want to interact with it.
她也遇到過不想與機器人互動的用餐者。
But the robot is helpful, she said.
但她說，機器人是有幫助的。
It saves her trips to the kitchen and gives her more time with diners.
機器人幫她省去了來回跑去廚房的時間，讓她有更多的時間和用餐者在一起。
Le Clair of Forrester said worker shortages have greatly increased the use of robot servers at restaurants.
Forrester的勒克萊爾表示，由于工人短缺，餐廳機器人服務員的使用量大大增加。
In the U.S., the restaurant industry employed 15 million people at the end of last year.
在美國，截至去年年底，餐飲業雇用了1500萬個機器人。
But that was 400,000 fewer than before the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Restaurant Association said.
但美國國家餐館協會表示，這比新冠疫情爆發前減少了40萬。
In a recent opinion study, 62 percent of restaurant operators told the association they do not have enough employees to meet their needs.
在最近的一項民意調查中，62%的餐廳經營者告訴該協會，他們沒有足夠的員工來滿足他們的需求。
The use of technology, like QR codes, to order food also prepared people to accept robots.
使用二維碼等技術點餐也讓人們接受了機器人。
Karthik Namasivayam of Michigan State University's Broad College of Business said, "Once an operator begins to understand and work with one technology, other technologies…will be much more readily accepted."
密歇根州立大學布羅德商學院的Karthik Namasivayam說：“一旦運營商開始了解并使用一種技術，其他技術就會更容易被接受?！?/p>
Namasivayam said that public acceptance of robot servers is very high in Asia.
Namasivayam說，在亞洲，公眾對機器人服務員的接受度非常高。
For example, he said Pizza Hut has robot servers in 1,000 restaurants in China.
他舉例說，必勝客在中國的1000家餐廳配備了機器人服務員。
The U.S. was slower to use robot servers, but more restaurants are now testing them.
美國使用機器人服務員的速度較慢，但現在越來越多的餐廳正在測試它們。
Chick-fil-A is trying them at several restaurants around the country.
福樂雞正在全國各地的許多餐廳試用機器人。
The company said the robots have given human employees more time to serve and welcome guests.
該公司表示，機器人讓人類員工有更多時間服務和歡迎客人。
But not all restaurants have had success with robots.
但并不是所有的餐廳都成功地使用了機器人。
Chili's introduced a robot server in 2020.
奇利斯在2020年推出了機器人服務員。
The restaurant company expanded the test to 61 U.S. restaurants before suddenly halting last August.
這家餐飲公司曾將測試范圍擴大到61家美國餐廳，但在去年8月突然停止。
Chili's found that the robot moved too slowly and got in the way of human servers.
奇利斯發現，機器人移動太慢，妨礙了人類服務員的工作。
And 58 percent of guests surveyed said robots did not improve their overall experience.
58%的受訪客人表示，機器人并沒有改善他們的整體體驗。
Haidilao in China began using robots a year ago to take food to diners' tables.
一年前，中國的海底撈開始使用機器人將食物送到用餐者的餐桌上。
But managers at several restaurants said the robots have not proved as dependable or cost-effective as human servers.
但一些餐廳的經理表示，事實證明，機器人不像人類服務員那樣可靠，也不劃算。
Wang Long, the manager of a Haidilao restaurant in Beijing, said his two robots have both broken down.
北京一家海底撈餐廳的經理王龍（音譯）說，他的兩個機器人都壞了。
"We only used them now and then," Wang said, "…the machine can never replace humans."
“我們只是偶爾使用它們，”王龍說，“……機器永遠無法取代人類?！?/p>
I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Faith Pirlo.
丹·弗里德爾、費思·皮爾洛共同為您播報。
譯文為可可英語翻譯，未經授權請勿轉載！
