
San Francisco's first automated restaurant is 'pure magic' - cryptoz
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-future-of-the-machine-worker-is-here-2016-3
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schoen
I find it weird that this is called "San Francisco's first automated
restaurant". Automated restaurants were widespread throughout the early-to-
mid-20th century.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat)

From the descriptions, it's not clear that the level of automation in the new
automated restaurant is that much higher than in a traditional automat. (Like
in previous automats, there are still human beings working in a kitchen out-
of-sight behind the wall.) Other journalists called this particular restaurant
"a new take on an old model", "a new take on the classic automat", and "the
return of the automat".

An automat company was "once the world's largest restaurant chain":

[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/meet-me-at-the-
automat...](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/meet-me-at-the-
automat-47804151/?no-ist)

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Dr_tldr
This sounds more like a mechanical turk than actual automation. A restaurant
without waiters is usually called a cafeteria or a deli, not "pure magic."
This article is credulous and obfuscating to the point of dishonesty, even if
only through emphasis.

By the dubious logic shown here, if Uber put a divider between the passenger
and the driver, it would be a self-driving car. Their definition of automatic
seems to be "not seeing a person" instead of "not needing a person."

------
blacksmith_tb
This article is originally from The Guardian (where it has better images)
[http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/19/robot-
base...](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/19/robot-based-
economy-san-francisco)

