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You may have already seen them in some restaurants around the world: robots.
你可能已经在世界各地的一些餐厅里看到过它们：机器人。
They are about the size of a child.
它们和小孩差不多大。
They can welcome people and lead them to their tables.
它们能欢迎客人，并自己能移动到桌子旁边。
They can deliver food and drinks and bring dirty dishes back to the kitchen.
它们可以送食物和饮料，还能把脏盘子送回厨房。
Some have cat-like faces and even make noises when you scratch their heads.
有些机器人有猫脸，当你挠它们的头时，它们甚至会发出声音。
But are robot waiters the future?
但机器人服务员是未来吗？
It is a question the restaurant industry is trying to answer.
这是餐饮业正在努力回答的一个问题。
Many people think robot waiters are the answer to worker shortages.
许多人认为机器人服务员是解决劳动力短缺的办法。
Sales of robots have been growing in recent years.
近年来，机器人的销量一直在增长。
There are tens of thousands of them now moving through eating places worldwide.
现在有数以万计的机器人在世界各地的餐饮场所穿梭。
"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.
休斯顿大学希尔顿全球酒店管理学院院长丹尼斯·雷诺兹说：“在我看来，毫无疑问，这就是世界的发展方向。”
The school's restaurant began using a robot in December.
去年12月，该校的餐厅开始使用机器人。
Reynolds said it has eased the workload for humans and improved service.
雷诺兹表示，这减轻了人类的工作量，改善了服务质量。
But others say robot waiters still have a long way to go before they can replace humans.
但也有人表示，机器人服务员要取代人类还有很长的路要走。
They cannot take orders.
它们无法接受命令。
And they cannot walk up steps to different areas of a restaurant.
它们不能走上台阶去餐厅的不同区域。
"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.
咨询公司Forrester的克雷格·勒克莱尔说：“餐厅是一个非常混乱的地方，所以很难以一种真正高效的方式引入自动化。”
Still, the use of robots is growing.
尽管如此，机器人的使用量仍在增长。
California-based Bear Robotics introduced its Servi robot in 2021.
总部位于加利福尼亚州的Bear Robotics于2021年推出了Servi机器人。
The company expects to have 10,000 deployed by the end of this year in 44 U.S. states and overseas.
该公司预计到今年年底其将在美国44个州和海外部署1万个机器人。
In China, Shenzen-based Pudu Robotics, which was founded in 2016, has deployed more than 56,000 robots worldwide.
在中国，总部位于深圳的普渡机器人公司成立于2016年，该公司已经在全球部署了超过5.6万个机器人。
"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.
总部位于得克萨斯州奥斯汀的机器人服务器制造商Richtech Robotics的菲尔·郑说：“每家连锁餐厅都在寻求尽可能多的自动化。”
"People are going to see these everywhere in the next year or two."
“在未来一两年，人们将会随处可见这些机器人。”
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，在密歇根州麦迪逊高地，李斋（音译）的餐厅Noodle Topia很难找到工人。
So, he bought a robot from Pudu Robotics.
于是，他从普渡机器人公司买了一个机器人。
The robot was so successful he added two more; now, one robot leads diners to their seats while another delivers food to tables.
机器人非常成功，他又增加了两个；现在，一个机器人把就餐者带到他们的座位上，另一个机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.
他的员工将脏盘子装到第三个机器人上，把它们带回厨房。
Zhai said he now needs three people to do the same work that five or six people used to do.
李斋说，他现在需要三个人来做以前五六个人做的工作。
And they save him money.
它们还帮他省钱了。
A robot costs around $15,000, he said, but a person costs him $5,000 to $6,000 per month.
他说，一个机器人的成本约为1.5万美元，但一个人每月的成本为5000至6000美元。
Zhai noted that the robots give his human servers more time to spend with diners, which increases tips.
李斋指出，机器人让他的人类服务员有更多的时间与用餐者在一起，从而增加了小费。
Tips are extra money given to food servers to reward them for their service.
小费指的是给服务员额外的钱，以奖励他们的服务。
And diners often post videos of the robots on social media that lead to more visits.
用餐者经常在社交媒体上发布机器人的视频，从而吸引更多人来光顾餐厅。
"Besides saving labor, the robots generate business," he said.
他说：“除了节省劳动力，机器人还能创造业务”。
Betzy Giron Reynosa at The Sushi Factory in West Melbourne, Florida said working with robots could be problematic.
佛罗里达州西墨尔本寿司工厂的贝齐·吉隆·雷诺萨表示，与机器人一起工作可能会有问题。
"You can't really tell it to move or anything," she said.
她说：“你真的不能让它随便移动”。
She has also had diners who do not want to interact with it.
她也遇到过不想与机器人互动的用餐者。
But the robot is helpful, she said.
但她说，机器人是有帮助的。
It saves her trips to the kitchen and gives her more time with diners.
机器人帮她省去了来回跑去厨房的时间，让她有更多的时间和用餐者在一起。
Le Clair of Forrester said worker shortages have greatly increased the use of robot servers at restaurants.
Forrester的勒克莱尔表示，由于工人短缺，餐厅机器人服务员的使用量大大增加。
In the U.S., the restaurant industry employed 15 million people at the end of last year.
在美国，截至去年年底，餐饮业雇用了1500万个机器人。
But that was 400,000 fewer than before the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Restaurant Association said.
但美国国家餐馆协会表示，这比新冠疫情爆发前减少了40万。
In a recent opinion study, 62 percent of restaurant operators told the association they do not have enough employees to meet their needs.
在最近的一项民意调查中，62%的餐厅经营者告诉该协会，他们没有足够的员工来满足他们的需求。
The use of technology, like QR codes, to order food also prepared people to accept robots.
使用二维码等技术点餐也让人们接受了机器人。
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."
密歇根州立大学布罗德商学院的Karthik Namasivayam说：“一旦运营商开始了解并使用一种技术，其他技术就会更容易被接受。”
Namasivayam said that public acceptance of robot servers is very high in Asia.
Namasivayam说，在亚洲，公众对机器人服务员的接受度非常高。
For example, he said Pizza Hut has robot servers in 1,000 restaurants in China.
他举例说，必胜客在中国的1000家餐厅配备了机器人服务员。
The U.S. was slower to use robot servers, but more restaurants are now testing them.
美国使用机器人服务员的速度较慢，但现在越来越多的餐厅正在测试它们。
Chick-fil-A is trying them at several restaurants around the country.
福乐鸡正在全国各地的许多餐厅试用机器人。
The company said the robots have given human employees more time to serve and welcome guests.
该公司表示，机器人让人类员工有更多时间服务和欢迎客人。
But not all restaurants have had success with robots.
但并不是所有的餐厅都成功地使用了机器人。
Chili's introduced a robot server in 2020.
奇利斯在2020年推出了机器人服务员。
The restaurant company expanded the test to 61 U.S. restaurants before suddenly halting last August.
这家餐饮公司曾将测试范围扩大到61家美国餐厅，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.
奇利斯发现，机器人移动太慢，妨碍了人类服务员的工作。
And 58 percent of guests surveyed said robots did not improve their overall experience.
58%的受访客人表示，机器人并没有改善他们的整体体验。
Haidilao in China began using robots a year ago to take food to diners' tables.
一年前，中国的海底捞开始使用机器人将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.
但一些餐厅的经理表示，事实证明，机器人不像人类服务员那样可靠，也不划算。
Wang Long, the manager of a Haidilao restaurant in Beijing, said his two robots have both broken down.
北京一家海底捞餐厅的经理王龙（音译）说，他的两个机器人都坏了。
"We only used them now and then," Wang said, "…the machine can never replace humans."
“我们只是偶尔使用它们，”王龙说，“……机器永远无法取代人类。”
I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Faith Pirlo.
丹·弗里德尔、费思·皮尔洛共同为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
