I, for one, welcome out robot hotel staff

George K · "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

Short-staffed hotels are hiring robots — and labor unions are pushing back

A fledgling line of robots has begun to fill jobs at short-staffed hotels — and labor groups are sounding alarms.

A handful of hotels across the US – from the Mandarin Oriental in Boston to a Holiday Inn Express in Redwood City, Calif. – have begun turning to robots to provide guest services usually performed by human employees.

Need an extra towel? Forget your shampoo? Order takeout from Uber Eats? A robot with a name like Alfred, Geoffrey, Alina or Mobi will deliver — not with a knock on your door upon arrival, but typically with a ping to your phone.

The rolling bots are decorated with decals like bowties and wear vinyl wraps that resemble hotel uniforms. They even crack jokes on their digital screens. (What do robots do on the holidays? Recharge their batteries. How does a robot eat M&Ms? In megabytes.)

Labor unions don’t find the idea of robots working at a hotel funny, much less robot jokes. Organizers fear the budding army of automatons, which currently numbers at least 200 nationwide, is threatening to grow and replace dues-paying members. The issue is bubbling up in the hospitality industry even as it has lately sparked division in other sectors amid a nationwide labor shortage. That includes talks between port operators and West Coast dock workers whose labor contract expired on July 1.

Relay’s robots cost about $2,000 a month to lease. Rival Bear Robotics, a Redwood City, Calif. firm that focuses primarily on the restaurant industry, introduced a model this year called Servi that’s also aimed at hotels. The five-year-old firm has raised $112 million altogether — including $81 million in March.

“We are also looking at developing vacuuming robots that can clean the hallways,” Relay Robotics CEO Michael O’Donnell told The Post.

It’s not clear how many hotel properties have installed Bear’s room-service robots. The company didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Aqua Letifer

Well, here we go then. I think this bullshit is starting in full swing.

George K · "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

@Aqua-Letifer said in I, for one, welcome out robot hotel staff:

Well, here we go then. I think this bullshit is starting in full swing.

Mrs. George and I spent a couple of nights in downtown Chicago - at the Palmer House - for our anniversary. The goal was just to get away for a few days and be waited on.

Guess what? No room service.

I can only guess that this is a staffing issue. The only way we could do a meal in our room was to bring it upstairs (in styrofoam and plastic) from the downstairs restaurant.

We were short on glasses and pillows. When I called the desk, they said they'd someone up right away - that could EASILY be done with a robot. I'm surprised that iRobot (maker of Roomba) hasn't explored this space - perhaps they have, I dunno.

Doctor Phibes

Presumably the folks who previously did this work are too busy coding

Axtremus

Only rich people can afford to hire the time and labor of other people. The rest will have to make do with technology.

Rich people have personal assistants.
The rest of us get personal digital assistants.

Rich people can retain real chauffeurs.
The rest of us can have autonomous driving tech.

Rich people can afford paramours and escorts.
The rest can at best afford blow-up dolls.

Klaus

@Axtremus said in I, for one, welcome out robot hotel staff:

Rich people can afford paramours and escorts.
The rest can at best afford blow-up dolls.

Comment from Larry in 3 2 1 ...

Mik

Do the math - $2K a month, $490 a week, that's a $12 an hour employee PLUS no benefits, UI, matching SS and Medicare no HR overhead. It's a good decision for the hotels, even if staff were plentiful. Screw the union.

Aqua Letifer

@Axtremus said in I, for one, welcome out robot hotel staff:

Rich people can afford paramours and escorts.
The rest can at best afford blow-up dolls.

It's okay, man, none of us judge you.

Mik

Nh. I've met his lovely wife. He's doing much better than that.

taiwan_girl

I dont think this is a big deal. Labor force is kind of shrinking. Companies do this all the time'

sell check out at grocery stores, etc

Aqua Letifer

@taiwan_girl said in I, for one, welcome out robot hotel staff:

I dont think this is a big deal. Labor force is kind of shrinking. Companies do this all the time'

sell check out at grocery stores, etc

I'll be interested to see if you still feel the same way in the coming decade.

LuFins Dad

@Aqua-Letifer said in I, for one, welcome out robot hotel staff:

@taiwan_girl said in I, for one, welcome out robot hotel staff:

I dont think this is a big deal. Labor force is kind of shrinking. Companies do this all the time'

sell check out at grocery stores, etc

I'll be interested to see if you still feel the same way in the coming decade.

Give it 2. This is at most a novelty for the next 5-7 years, especially with all of the supply disruptions in electronics.

Aqua Letifer

@LuFins-Dad said in I, for one, welcome out robot hotel staff:

@Aqua-Letifer said in I, for one, welcome out robot hotel staff:

@taiwan_girl said in I, for one, welcome out robot hotel staff:

I dont think this is a big deal. Labor force is kind of shrinking. Companies do this all the time'

sell check out at grocery stores, etc

I'll be interested to see if you still feel the same way in the coming decade.

Give it 2. This is at most a novelty for the next 5-7 years, especially with all of the supply disruptions in electronics.

Maybe. Adjacent to robots, I'm pretty sure AI is going to disrupt the everloving shit out of my job prospects. (It shouldn't, but pretty certain it will.)