Turing Test and Our Favorite Food Robots
All this Turing Test chatter about a computer maybe finally tricking some humans into thinking IT was human got us thinking about robots. Who doesn’t love a good one?
They’ve sure done some good things (and some weird things) in the world of food. To wit:
The pancake bot.
Still credit: YouTube
What’s more compelling than the notion of stretching awake with a lion-esque yawn, having one robot make the coffee, and seeing another making pancakes into seahorses? Not a lot.
The robot waiter.
Photo credit: Nicolas Asfour, AFP
Ideal for friends who complain about the service no matter how fancy the establishment and how attentive the server. A robot waiterchanges the whole game; now you can only blame the nerd who madethe bot. Also, this dude dates back (like all good things do) to the ’80s.
The automat bot.
Photo credit: NYPL, Flickr
The original American robot food thing. Automats coat the impersonal bot experience in (if we may steal a phrase) “a thick glaze of classy" and are retro-chic to boot, dating right on back to 1902.
The vineyard-tending robot.
Photo credit: Youtube, AFP
Because many of us are farmers in our minds, but in reality we really don’t want to deal with getting dirty, “pruning and desuckering” vines in a vineyard. Thanks, robot.
The bartender robot.
Photo credit: Makr Shakr
For those days when you really, really don’t want to talk about your feelings or politics with the barkeep. Also: It’s called Makr Shakr. I mean come on.
The possessed soda machine robot.
Photo credit: Jon Manning. Vice.com
Who doesn’t harbor a nostalgic fondness for the first time she met a soda machine robot? Its punchy buttons are big, and bright, and it’s so satisfying to whale on one and hear the crash-thunk-crash of the can tumbling through the mechanized interior.
Lest you call this more “technology” than “a robot,” watch out, because a Seattle soda-bot that stocks itself and is definitely hauntedis coming for you, packing like 30 cans of Grape Fanta.
This story is from our friends at Yahoo Food, the site that brings you the very best in food news and recipes every single day.
