Inside the Chinese Restaurant Using AI Waiters and Chefs

Haidilao is a popular Chinese restaurant chain most known for its Szechuan hot pot dish. Their Beijing location has recently incorporated AI robotics in the form of AI waiters and chefs into the restaurant. When an order is placed a robotic arm picks the required dishes from a heated storage shelf and places them onto a tray. This tray is then loaded onto one of six little AI waiters which transport the dishes to the correct table. One of the most popular items on the menu is a soup based dish. Using a new AI chef, customers can choose their prefered level of spiciness and the system will create a specially made soup base for their order.

They claim this shift to AI will save labour costs and greatly improve food safety. Although they currently use human staff during the busiest periods they're planning to change this and also roll the system out across more locations in the future.