{"id":887,"date":"2023-05-11T22:35:36","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T13:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/?p=887"},"modified":"2023-05-16T20:44:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T11:44:04","slug":"automated-dalek-waiter-robots-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/automated-dalek-waiter-robots-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Automated Dalek waiter robots in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Crap. We’re doomed. So in the past few years, these robot waiters have proliferated here in Japan. With all this talk of AI, maybe it’s only a matter of time before these become self aware and decide to revolt against humans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the Chinese restaurant chain Bamiyan (owned by the Gusto\/Skylark group which also owns the Yume-An Japanese restaurant chain) has this completely FAWESOME Taiwanese fry bread topped with vanilla ice cream and smothered in honey, and it reminds me of the sopapillas back home in Arizona I miss so much (which can only be found in Arizona and New Mexico). Ulan and I discovered this on their dessert menu in April and holy crap, I just want to eat that every week now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What scares me is this robot that served us. It’s like a cross between a Dalek from Doctor Who<\/em> and R2-D2 from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi<\/em> (back when Star Wars was cool).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I kept expecting it to exclaim, “EXTERMINATE!”<\/em> Every time it came to our table, I tell Ulan, “Ohmygosh, it’s come back to kill us again!” But really if you think of it, how delightful it would be to be murdered by such an adorable robot. It even has a cute face and what resembles cat ears. How sweet.<\/p>\n\n\n

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But just think… once these robot servers become more advanced, we’ll have to face something more frightening. This man in the picture above didn’t leave a good enough tip, so now his robot waiter is murdering him to death in the parking lot. The man is obviously not having a good day. Of course, this won’t be a problem here in Japan since there is no tipping, but who knows what the future has in store?<\/p>\n\n\n

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And of course, we ordered milk tea boba drinks (called “tapioca” drinks here in Japan, despite these actually not<\/em> being tapioca). Ulan loves these, and unfortunately the Mini Stop convenience stores no longer serve boba drinks and it sucks. But at least Bamiyan serves them. Happy Ulan is happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Crap. We’re doomed. So in the past few years, these robot waiters have proliferated here in Japan. With all this talk of AI, maybe it’s only a matter of time before these become self aware and decide to revolt against humans. So the Chinese restaurant chain Bamiyan (owned by the Gusto\/Skylark group which also owns … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Automated Dalek waiter robots in Japan”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5],"tags":[102],"class_list":["post-887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-japan","category-life","tag-ulan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":851,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2023\/05\/05\/ulan-chans-15th-birthday\/","url_meta":{"origin":887,"position":0},"title":"Ulan-chan’s 15th birthday","date":"2023-05-05","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is May 5th, Children's Day in Japan. It's also my daughter Ulan's birthday! This lucky girl has her birthday on a national holiday. So the picture above is a cake for Children's day (Kodomo no Hi) for the rest of the family to enjoy, and this was her own\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "life"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/SAM_5893-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2071,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/03\/10\/a-birthday-spent-in-tokyo-stations-basement\/","url_meta":{"origin":887,"position":1},"title":"A birthday spent in Tokyo Station’s basement","date":"2025-03-10","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, the three of us went to Tokyo to submit a passport application at the US Embassy for Ulan. It was Mayu's birthday too. Because I could pay for the passport in advance through PayPal, it sped up the process. An appointment is required, which I did online. We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "anime\/manga"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/KIMG2529.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2050,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/puyo-puyo-merchandise-at-mini-stop-convenience-stores\/","url_meta":{"origin":887,"position":2},"title":"Puyo Puyo merchandise at Mini Stop convenience stores","date":"2025-02-20","format":false,"excerpt":"So Ulan and I stopped by the Mini Stop convenience store to get their Korean cheese hot dogs a few days ago. Holy crap, those are fantastic. They've recently begun selling them again and they are SOFA KING delicious. Japanese conbini food is fantastic. The last time I went to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "neat crap"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/KIMG2508-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2549,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/09\/25\/a-daiso-store-in-chandler-arizona\/","url_meta":{"origin":887,"position":3},"title":"A Daiso store in Chandler, Arizona","date":"2025-09-25","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the places I visited with friends in the Phoenix area is a new Daiso in Chandler! It provides an identical experience to a typical Daiso in Japan. Items just cost more than 100 yen, of course. When we used to live in Arizona, these types of items were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "life"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_1750-2-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2273,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/06\/16\/kuroda-toy-store-in-maebashi\/","url_meta":{"origin":887,"position":4},"title":"Kuroda Toy Store in Maebashi","date":"2025-06-16","format":false,"excerpt":"Mayu discovered a store called Kuroda Toy Doll \uff08\u9ed2\u7530\u4eba\u5f62\u5e97\uff09in Maebashi's Central Shopping Arcade on the internet and on Saturday we went there to check it out. Shoutengai \uff08\u5546\u5e97\u8857\uff09are covered shopping arcades and a tradition of Japan. Unfortunately, sometimes these shopping arcades have grown unsuccessful over the years with empty real\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "anime\/manga"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/KIMG2655-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":747,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2023\/02\/27\/our-new-floor-sofa\/","url_meta":{"origin":887,"position":5},"title":"Our new floor sofa","date":"2023-02-27","format":false,"excerpt":"Just over a month ago, I finally bought a small floor sofa for our apartment's living room. In Japan, these floor sofas are popular since they do not take up so much space. They have no legs and just sit flat on the floor. I've wanted to get one for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Japan"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/DSCN7247.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":915,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887\/revisions\/915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}