If you have been fortunate enough to step into Google’s developer conference, or perhaps on one of Royal Caribbean’s cruises, you may have gotten your cocktail, not from a human, but from a robotic bartender.
Back in 2013, Makr Shakr’s Bionic Bar graced our presence and this piece of smart technology is starting to change the way that we order some of our favorite drinks. While many bars may still not have the budget to incorporate this technology into their enterprises, engineers have scaled down the technology to smaller versions like the Somabar Robot Bartender for smaller businesses and even personal use within the home.
On the outset, this idea of a robot bartender sounds like a fascinating idea. You won’t have to shout across the bar to try and get the bartender’s attention and you don’t have to worry about the bartender getting your correct order over the sounds of the DJ’s turntable, people conversing, and the other noises typical of a bar. You have the capability of customizing your drink to your heart’s content and the Nino, which is the updated version of the Bionic Bar, will allow you to place your order via phone app.
I’m also sure that it is fascinating to watch the robotic arms pull the bottles from their vault of liquors on the ceiling and create your concoction. The arms on the Nino were programmed to be like the “dance-like” movements of humans.
While in California, it is not the legal responsibility of the bartender to prevent a drunk patron from getting behind the wheel (see Should Bars be Allowed to be Sued when they Serve Alcohol to Someone who Later Causes a DUI-Related Accident? ), bartenders can still act as a “gatekeeper” of alcohol to someone who has already had too much to drink. My concern comes from how these “bartenders” will be able to stop a customer from indulging too much.
We know of many lawsuits in other states by grieving family members against bartenders and the bar owners for having not restricted the number of drinks served to an individual before that individual made the decision to get back into their car and drive their vehicle. One can only imagine the lawsuits that people are going to file against bars who are using robotic bartenders who are, in turn, incapable of determining whether someone is to intoxicated to drive and should not continue to be served alcoholic drinks.
We are starting to see advancements in vehicle technology aimed at being able to determine the driving capabilities of a person, including whether they are intoxicated, when they get into their vehicle.
So how are these robotic bartender systems equipped with being able to determine how much is too much? Sure, they may be able to track an amount of alcohol purchased, but we all know that person who always buys rounds for their friends, or that friend who buys a cute girl/boy across the bar a drink in order to start up a conversation. A watchful bartender would be able to determine if the person ordering is actually drinking alcohol or purchasing it for others. A robot, however, will not be programmed with those capabilities, not yet anyway.
While these robots are not yet mainstream, it will be interesting to see if the larger robotic bartender systems that have made their way to tech-savvy cruise ships and Las Vegas hotels will expand their reach into the everyday bar and how that may change how bar owners keep an eye on their clientele. It will also be interesting to see exactly how they might affect or be affected, if at all, by some legal changes that are currently being discussed in California such as extending last call and lowering the BAC limit.
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