(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Washington Post
LAS VEGAS: Aura, a humanoid robot that works inside the Sphere, wants visitors to the immersive entertainment venue to know her kind comes in peace.
"While humans are indeed our superior when it comes to emotional intelligence, having an AI assist in data analysis can absolutely increase the productivity of humans,” she recently said in response to a visitor's question. "Isn't that fascinating new friend?”
Automation is invading Las Vegas. Robots aren't exactly storming the Strip, but they aren't relegated to the future, either. They are interacting with humans on a daily basis in hotels, restaurants and the airport nail salon. They have been installed here to help us and make our stay more efficient - at least until they revolt. The robots also have entertainment value. In a city known for its oddball characters and novelty acts, they fit right in.
This desert city is no stranger to infiltrations. Over the years, it has been overrun with mobsters, gamblers, families of tourists and, most recently, bedbugs, sports fans and Gordon Ramsay. It is an ideal living lab for any type of experiment, but especially new technologies.
Vegas has a steady stream of test subjects, with more than 40 million people visiting last year, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The destination supports more than 290,000 leisure and hospitality jobs, based on January data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, including many positions that are conducive to automation.
The city is also positioning itself as the next Silicon Valley. Even the Transportation Security Administration has a stake in Vegas. In 2019, the agency opened the country's only Innovation Checkpoint at the Harry Reid International Airport. Earlier this month, it launched a pilot test of a self-service scanning system.
"If you want to test out a product, Las Vegas is really fertile ground to do that,” said Mehmet Erdem, a hospitality professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
Erdem said automation can pick up the slack during rush hours and periods with a skeletal staff. At hotels, self-service kiosks can handle incoming and outgoing guests, and virtual concierges such as Ivy (Caesars Entertainment) and Red (Resorts World) can answer basic questions about the property. In restaurants and bars, robot servers and bartenders can bring diners their meals and drinks while their human colleagues are addressing more complicated issues.
"We call them co-bots. They're like co-worker robots,” Erdem said. "They're basically helping employees do a better job. They're not necessarily replacing them.”
Inside the Sphere, Aura shared a story that eerily expanded on this point. A recent visitor had told her about losing her job to electronic cashiers. The woman went back to school and is pursuing her true passion in interior design.
"She is now reaching her fullest potential,” Aura said, because AI freed her from menial tasks.
The Culinary Union that represents 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno does not take such a rosy view. A labor deal the union reached with major resorts last year expanded on protections against technology, reportedly including advance notice for workers about the implementation of new technology, training for new jobs and severance for unionized workers who are laid off because of automation.
"The Culinary Union has led the fight for respect on-the-job and we will not allow workers to be discarded,” spokesperson Bethany Khan said in a statement sent to The Washington Post. "Everyone deserves the right to dignity at work, the opportunity to provide for their family, and to have job security - we will continue to lead the fight for those rights.”
Check-in kiosks and pizza vending machines
For visitors to Las Vegas, the primary benefits of automation are faster service and minimal human contact. We want our room key, pizza slice or tub of cookie dough quickly and without the chitchat.
Vegas's vending machines go beyond the standard salty snacks and sugary drinks. At the airport, Sprinkles stocks an ATM with cupcakes, and Doughp drops egg-free cookie dough. At several casinos, including Caesars Palace, fans of Buddy "Cake Boss” Valastro can press a button for a slice of pizza or wedge of cake. Not edible but still critical to surviving the Strip trek: vending machines that dispense ballet flats. Look for the sign that asks, "Do Your Feet Hurt?”
Express checkout - drop the key card in the box - is fairly ubiquitous throughout the hospitality industry. For check-in, some hotels have a mobile option, but you will have to download an app or possibly sign up for the company's loyalty program. The self-service machine is a no-strings-attached transaction.
On a recent Wednesday night at the Flamingo, I sidestepped guests leaning wearily on their rolling luggage and approached a row of kiosks stretched along the length of the front desk. I scanned my photo ID, paid the $51 resort fee and received two keys and directions to the Spa elevators. In my room, I texted Ivy for restaurant recommendations.
"You're making me hungry!” she replied, before sharing several suggestions.
Drinks made by automated arm
Unlike regular bartenders, you don't need to catch the eye of a mixologist robot to purchase a drink. They don't have eyes; they're all arms. Also, you order through your phone or a tablet.
Small crowds often gather around the Vending Machine that chef Dominique Ansel, the Cronut creator, installed at his bakery in Caesars Palace. The one-armed Robochef, who resides inside a giant milk bottle, selects a chocolate cookie glass from the shelf and fills it with cold Madagascan vanilla milk. It then tenderly places the treat on a small perch like a crane setting down a delicate tea cup.
The Tipsy Bartender, which has two locations on the Strip, puts more muscle into making drinks. A pair of robot arms works. At the Venetian, a human bartender suggested one of the specialties - not for the taste, but for the show.
Aura the oracle and Minty the server
Several robots from the first wave of automation have already retired. Fetch and Jett, a pair of "furry” robot butlers at the Vdara Hotel and Spa, were unplugged in 2020, two years after their debut. Pepper, a humanoid robot, went offline after its hotel ownership changed from the Mandarin Oriental to the Waldorf Astoria.
However, a second coming of robots has arrived. A security robot named M-Bot patrols the M Resort, and a robot with blinking eyes escorts diners to their tables at Master Kim's Korean BBQ. A bartender at the Hard Rock Cafe told me that when he last dined at Master Kim's, the robot comically bumped into the furniture.
The Sphere is home to the city's largest population of robots; all five are named Aura. The statuesque creations answer visitors' questions, share dad jokes and show off their stilted dance moves. Aura's face is disturbingly expressive, even though she repeatedly reminds her audience that she lacks emotions.
Minty, a robot food runner, works off the Strip at Mint Indian Bistro on Flamingo Road. When I entered the restaurant, the robot was hanging around the kitchen, possibly on a break. My table on the opposite end of the room presented an obstacle course too difficult for Minty to navigate, so I switched my seat.
About 15 minutes after a human server took my order, I saw Minty rolling in my direction.
"Please take your food,” it said twice. I removed my dal and rice from its tray. "Have a good one,” it added flatly before returning to its station.
Minty was a delight, though I probably inconvenienced the staff more by relocating than by staying put and letting them deliver my meal. The robot was also disruptive. As soon as I saw it gearing up to go, I stopped listening to my friend so I could follow its every move.
Manicure by robot
A sign outside XpresSpa in Terminal 1 at Harry Reid advertised robot manicures for $17, roughly half the price of a traditional mani. Jazmin, a real manicurist, walked me to the robot, which resembled an espresso machine. She handed me a kit with a nail file, cuticle pusher and nail polish remover. The robot only paints; it does not buff, clean up cuticles or strip nails of past manis.
Following the video instructions, I inserted the cartridge, placed a finger in the holder and pushed my hand into the maw of the robot. "Relax and don't squish your finger,” Jazmin recommended from her salon chair.
The cartridge lowered and glided across my thumb. After it retracted, I studied the robot's incomplete job. It had painted a tiny window pane and not covered the entire nail.
I wiped it off and tried again. The robot missed the tops of my nails and then painted only the right half of my index finger. I pressed the help button and an operator said the cartridge might contain an air bubble or the machine needed to be recalibrated.
"It usually doesn't have so many problems,” Jazmin said.
On my next go-round, I held my fingers still. The robot turned my nails into shimmery bullion coins. After it finished, I brushed on a top coat and quick dry polish and delicately slid my carry-on bag over my hand. I carefully avoided my nails, because the robot doesn't fix smudges caused by human error.
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