Author: ANews

Robot waiters in Kenya create a buzz. But there are concerns about what it means for human labor

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Nairobi has a vibrant tech industry with various startups and innovations in operation and has positioned itself as a tech hub in the East African region bearing the nickname The Silicone Savanna.

This is the Robot Cafe, believed to be the first of its kind in Nairobi and East Africa, where three robots glide among human waiters serving food to mesmerized customers.

These preprogrammed robots were acquired for entertainment. Cafe owner Mohammed Abbas says he experienced robot service in Asian and European countries and decided to invest in them.

“It was very expensive to import the robots,” he says, but adds that the investment has borne fruit, because the restaurant is “often busy with curious customers” who come to experience robot service.

One customer, Packson Chege, picks up a plate of fries from the robot tray as his friend films the experience across the table.

“I can say it is something unique because here in our country Kenya, I have never seen a restaurant like this one so I think for me, it is a good idea from the owner of this restaurant,” he said.

The three robots, which are named Claire, R24 and Nadia, aren’t programmed to have a full conversation with customers, but they can say “Your order is ready, Welcome” and then people have to press an exit button after picking up their food from the tray.

They are commanded by waiters through an application on an iPad.

Human waiters are still important in the operations of the cafe, because they take orders from customers who don’t use the online ordering option. The waiters then place the food on the robot tray when it’s ready and deliver drinks in person.

The technology is predicted to disrupt the future workforce globally, and especially in Africa, where there is a youthful population with a median age of 19 years.

But the cafe’s manager says the robots aren’t a replacement for human waiters as they can’t offer all services.

“At no point are the robots able to fully function in all the services that are supposed to be ongoing in the restaurant without the human touch,” John Kariuki said. “The robots are actually way too expensive for us to acquire, so if you are trying to save money, it is not going to work if you choose to go the robotic way.”

A hospitality industry expert, Edith Ojwang, said that there’s room for robotic and human service to coexist in the industry.

“The hospitality industry is very diverse. We have clients who will prefer robotic service and full automation, while we also have clients who will prefer human service, the human touch and warmth that comes with human service so it is not entirely a threat to human labor because of the diverse nature of the hospitality client base,” she said.

Robot waiters in Kenya create a buzz. But there are concerns about what it means for human labor

Nairobi has a vibrant tech industry with various startups and innovations in operation and has positioned itself as a tech hub in the East African region bearing the nickname The Silicone Savanna.

This is the Robot Cafe, believed to be the first of its kind in Nairobi and East Africa, where three robots glide among human waiters serving food to mesmerized customers.

These preprogrammed robots were acquired for entertainment. Cafe owner Mohammed Abbas says he experienced robot service in Asian and European countries and decided to invest in them.

“It was very expensive to import the robots,” he says, but adds that the investment has borne fruit, because the restaurant is “often busy with curious customers” who come to experience robot service.

One customer, Packson Chege, picks up a plate of fries from the robot tray as his friend films the experience across the table.

“I can say it is something unique because here in our country Kenya, I have never seen a restaurant like this one so I think for me, it is a good idea from the owner of this restaurant,” he said.

The three robots, which are named Claire, R24 and Nadia, aren’t programmed to have a full conversation with customers, but they can say “Your order is ready, Welcome” and then people have to press an exit button after picking up their food from the tray.

They are commanded by waiters through an application on an iPad.

Human waiters are still important in the operations of the cafe, because they take orders from customers who don’t use the online ordering option. The waiters then place the food on the robot tray when it’s ready and deliver drinks in person.

The technology is predicted to disrupt the future workforce globally, and especially in Africa, where there is a youthful population with a median age of 19 years.

But the cafe’s manager says the robots aren’t a replacement for human waiters as they can’t offer all services.

“At no point are the robots able to fully function in all the services that are supposed to be ongoing in the restaurant without the human touch,” John Kariuki said. “The robots are actually way too expensive for us to acquire, so if you are trying to save money, it is not going to work if you choose to go the robotic way.”

A hospitality industry expert, Edith Ojwang, said that there’s room for robotic and human service to coexist in the industry.

“The hospitality industry is very diverse. We have clients who will prefer robotic service and full automation, while we also have clients who will prefer human service, the human touch and warmth that comes with human service so it is not entirely a threat to human labor because of the diverse nature of the hospitality client base,” she said.

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Leader of Afghanistan’s resistance movement says he will defeat the Taliban ‘no matter the odds’

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Most Afghans have had to acquiesce to the Taliban not because they embrace their misogynistic ideology but because they have all the guns. Still, there is a nascent resistance movement. I spoke to its leader, Ahmad Massoud, who said he’s engaged in “a fight for the soul and future of our nation, and we are determined to win, no matter the odds.”

He is the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who led the Afghan resistance to the Taliban more than two and half decades ago when the Taliban first seized power in Afghanistan in 1996.

Massoud is now 35, and he leads the National Resistance Front to the Taliban. In our interview, he asserted that his group has carried out 207 military operations around Afghanistan this year and that he has 5,000 soldiers under his control. Verifying this kind of information independently is nearly impossible as there are relatively few international journalists covering Afghanistan, while the Taliban have closed hundreds of Afghan media outlets. The UN put out a report in June that documented a surge of anti-Taliban attacks during the first six months of this year but put the number at 29 operations carried out by the National Resistance Front, while on the group’s X feed, there are claims of far more operations.

Massoud told me that “the Taliban’s true victory wasn’t on the battlefield; it was at the negotiating table,” a withdrawal agreement that was negotiated by then-President Donald Trump’s team and carried out by President Joe Biden.

Massoud lives in an undisclosed location in Central Asia directing military operations in Afghanistan from outside the country. We conducted our interview over email, and it has been edited for clarity.

BERGEN:
The Taliban last week banned the sound of women’s voices outside of the home. This seems crazy, but the Taliban can do it with impunity. What does this say about their hold on power?

MASSOUD: This is a blatant display of ignorance and arrogance. The Taliban believe they can punish the people of Afghanistan, especially women, and yet they can also still gain international recognition. [Today, no government officially recognizes the Taliban, though several governments do have diplomatic relations with them.] This impunity is a direct result of the international community’s policy of appeasement of the Taliban over the past three years. If we hope to see a change in the Taliban’s behavior, we must alter our approach towards them. It’s that simple.

Within Afghanistan, our strategy for resistance is clear. The Taliban only respond to power and force. Diplomatic engagement with the Taliban has only emboldened them.

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