China’s AI Restaurant Scans Faces, Tongues to Serve ‘Perfect’ Meal: Report

Restaurants in eastern China are deploying AI robots that can cook over 100 different meals, handling up to 60% of the kitchen's workload. These robots learn from human chefs to standardize quality and even perform 'AI analysis' on customers to recommend personalized, health-focused dishes, sparking a debate online.

Several restaurants in eastern China are deploying artificial intelligence (AI) robots to cook up to 100 meals to save money, generating a heated debate on social media. Zhejiang TV stated that at least three such eateries had been open in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, for months. According to South China Morning Post, one of them, 24 Jieqi Robot Restaurant in the Xihu district, employs eight robots to handle ordering, serving, cleaning, and cooking. According to the research, they share 60% of kitchen staff' entire workload.

Before customers place orders, the robots do a "AI analysis" by scanning their faces and tongues and prompting them to answer a basic questionnaire. The robots then generate a report on the customer's lifestyle, emotions, and digestive condition before offering seasonal health-focused foods.

According to the restaurant's manager, Cai Haitang, the robots can prepare over 100 meals, including Three Cup Chicken, which is stewed chicken with three cups of important sauces, Crab Roe Tofu, and Braised Pork Trotter.

Some robots are also capable of creating Pian Er Chuan, a Hangzhou speciality soup noodle with preserved veggies, sliced pork and bamboo shoots.

Zhu Qi, an engineer who created the culinary robots, explained that they retain data on stove fire settings from human chefs' work and emulate the chefs' moves for stir-frying and turning the pot. As a consequence, Zhu believes that robot chefs will be able to standardise the quality of the cuisines they make. Deng Xuhui, a chef at Madayunhe Community Canteen in Gongshu District, says he used to have to make dozens of meals during peak hours every day.

However, since they began employing the robots, his employment has primarily involved manipulating two of them.

A 70-year-old man and his wife, who frequent this canteen, were astonished to learn that their meals are made by robots. "The foods taste no different than those cooked by humans. They are neither salty nor oily. It's just what we senior citizens enjoy," remarked the guy, surname Yu.

He also stated that the use of robots has resulted in lower meal prices at the restaurant. Such robots are generally used to cook fast food, group meals and spicy Hunan cuisine and Sichuan cuisine. Such AI robot restaurants are becoming popular in China. But it has left the online community divided.