When customers in downtown Vancouver placed orders with Pizza Hut in September, many of the pies landed on their doorsteps without a person in sight. Instead, diners were met by autonomous robots looking like a cooler on four wheels with eyelike lights.
The belief held by Serve Robotics is simple: with slim restaurant profits, a labor shortage and climate change worries “Why move a two-pound hamburger in a two-ton car?” A handful of other robotic delivery companies have the same idea, but they are facing several roadblocks.
“They’re drawing a lot of attention from people while they’re out on the sidewalk because they’re not seeing them that often and people are excited to see them, but as usage continues to increase, this can cause a lot of crowding on already narrow sidewalks,” said Prabhjot Gill, a McKinsey & Co. associate partner.
Ali Kashani, Serve’s Vancouver-bred chief executive, considers the criticism to be a natural part of innovation and thinks they are “a win-win for everybody“. But he’s tried to quiet concerns by ensuring his robots flash their lights to warn people they are around. They are equipped with automatic crash prevention, vehicle collision avoidance and emergency braking.
However, David Lepofsky, chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, said, ”It’s not like we’re denying people a service. We’ve got a way to deliver pizzas that we’ve had since we’ve had pizza delivery. It’s called human beings.“
Manish Dhankher, Pizza Hut Canada’s chief customer officer, agrees no pizza delivery is worth risking somebody’s safety, but said his company only partnered with Serve once the robots had made thousands of injury-free trips.
Serve robots only made nearby deliveries for Pizza Hut’s 1725 Robson St. location for two weeks, but the pilot generated ”childlike excitement“ from customers and had a 95 per cent satisfaction rate.
But Pizza Hut isn’t ready to roll out robots permanently.
”We want to learn more,“ he said. “What happens when you put this in the snowy areas of Saskatchewan and what happens when there is freezing rain?”
12. What is Gill’s attitude toward food delivery robots?
A.Supportive. | B.Negative. | C.Tolerant. | D.Doubtful. |
13. What did Kashani do with the robots to ease people’s worry?
A.Add security systems. | B.Create special routes. |
C.Put them to practical tests. | D.Advocate their safety. |
14. What can we infer from Dhankher’s words in paragraph 6?
A.Food delivery robots are completely safe. |
B.Pizza Hut may use food delivery robots in the future. |
C.Pizza Hut won’t choose food delivery robots forever. |
D.He worries about the effect of bad weather conditions. |
15. What can be the best title for the text?
A.Food Delivery Robots Need to Be Improved |
B.The Food Delivery Companies Are Taking off |
C.The Inventor of Food Delivery Robots Are Optimistic |
D.Mass Adoption of Food Delivery Robots Was Delayed |