Innovative AI Kitchen

Difficulty Index ★★★☆☆

Daniel Yoo '29

Chadwick International School

During lunchtime, you spot a new restaurant where you would like to eat. As you enter, you hear pleasant sizzling. To your right, you see multiple kiosks with pictures where you can order food.  After ordering, you sit at the table and look around, fascinated by the robotic arms that are cooking in the kitchen as well as the robotic carts that are serving food on their own. Although this restaurant visit seems surreal, artificial intelligence (AI) is used in restaurants more often than we think. In fact, according to a survey in 2021, 50% of 2,000 restaurants in the United States were already using AI. Many experts are arguing that utilizing AI paves the way for the future success of the restaurant business.

AI has a long history since its inception. In 1956, computer scientist John McCarthy first coined the term “artificial intelligence” and invented machines that could think abstractly, solve problems, and develop themselves as humans do. Then in 1969, a multi-purpose mobile robot named Shakey was made. Shakey was the first AI to perceive its surroundings and find reason with it. It was also able to complete tasks that required planning, rearranging simple objects, and finding routes. Later in 1997, a supercomputer named Deep Blue was designed. This artificial intelligence triumphs over the world chess champions including Garry Kasparov, which proves that AI can be better than humans in strategy. AI was finally introduced to kitchens as well. In 2017, Miso Robotics made the world’s first kitchen assistant robot called Flippy, which prepares fried foods. Since then, other kitchen AIs have been developed constantly.  In 2022, the first fully automated restaurant called Mezli was opened in San Francisco, California. After its successful opening, customers reveled saying that “…a robot is putting together your Mediterranean food and it's backed by a legit chef. This is the future!” Not only small restaurants but also global franchises including McDonald’s and Wingstop started to utilize AIs such as delivery robots, menu-checking AIs, order prediction AIs, and virtual order receivers. Experts say that these AIs increased both the customers’ satisfaction and the income of the restaurant. 

AIs especially rose to prominence in business during the pandemic. In this period, many people were feeling uneasy about going out for a meal, which caused the number of customers to decrease in restaurants. As the pandemic worsened, restaurant owners were beginning to focus on the cleanliness of the store and reducing interactions between the staff and customers by utilizing AI. For instance, orders can be taken from kiosks instead of staff. AIs were used as a “bridge” to connect with not only customers’ satisfaction but also the labor shortage during the pandemic. During the pandemic, the restaurant industry suffered a 12% loss of employees. AIs were more than capable of replacing the workers by managing inventory, predicting what people would order, and increasing the accuracy of receiving orders. Without a doubt, human staff, on the other hand, cannot manage every single order received from customers while predicting the orders of most customers. 

While they may seem efficient and ingenious, restaurant AIs have some downsides including cost, complexity to maintain, and potential job displacement. If the restaurant earns a lot of money or is a famous franchise, then the AI would be easy to afford. However, in some small restaurants with a small number of patrons, it would be hard to afford AIs. For instance, a microwave-sized AI that cooks steak in 3 minutes costs approximately 3,500 dollars per unit. Even kiosks can cost up to 5,000 dollars per unit. Including maintenance, costs can skyrocket. Complexity can also be a problem, especially for restaurant owners who are not used to computers or electronic devices. Patrons could also feel the same way: a survey concluded that 90% of the customers felt more comfortable interacting with humans instead of AIs. Most uneasy of all, AI can displace jobs. For example, chefs can be fired due to the machines replacing their roles of cooking because hiring chefs costs more than purchasing AIs in the long run. Unlike chefs, AIs can work constantly without rest unless the owner shuts them down due to malfunctions. Regardless of the negatives, restaurant AIs will be a great investment for the remote future and beyond. 

After all, the visit to the AI restaurant was surprisingly pleasant. Despite all the complexity and difficulties of using them, the AI robots were time efficient and the taste of the food was great. The cooking AIs inside the kitchen seemed very impressive and intriguing. However, restaurant owners who use AI in their businesses should acknowledge that incorporating AI can lead to negative results as well. If job opportunities are lost, then the employment rate may decrease. On the other hand, this could boost employment for AI engineers and computer programmers that will be needed, which means that there may be new types of job opportunities springing up instead. After all the developments and inventions of AIs, the lives of restaurant owners and patrons will be changed forever.

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