At a Dal.komm Coffee shop in Seoul, a robot takes orders from you through a mobile app or a touch screen and then makes fresh coffee. The robot can make up to 14 drinks at a time. Choi Eun Jin thinks the process is fun and easy. The 30-year-old office worker said, "The area is crowded with office workers and local residents during lunchtime. So it's good to have a robot like this ... so you can get your coffee more easily."
Coffee is just one of the many industries that use automated services in this technologically forward-thinking nation. Others include restaurants, food stores, banks and manufacturers. The development comes as many Koreans, especially the young, are struggling to find work.
South Korea has been an early adopter of automation. It had the highest percentage of robots to human workers in the world in 2017. The International Federation of Robotics say South Korea has 710 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers. The international average is 85 robots per 10,000 employees.
Even with the job losses, South Korea's businesses are replacing employees with automation and young people are welcoming the change. Lee Sang Jin said, "Currently, Millennials — those who were born after 1980 — are prime consumers. This generation tends to not like meeting other people, so they favor ... technology that enables people to minimize face-to-face interactions..." At the recently opened LAB101 store, customers can open the door with their credit cards 24 hours a day. Once inside, they can try on jeans and pay for the purchase without having to deal with an employee.
Back at Dal.komm Coffee, a robot can make about 300 cups a day at the cost of $2 to $3. While some customers like the robot barista, others do not. "Personally I prefer human baristas," said Lee Sang Jin. He added that the robot cannot make custom drinks as well as a human. "I like weak coffee, but the robot is unable to control the strength of the coffee well," Lee sa
A.Humans can make coffee as well as a robot
B.A robot is welcomed by all the customers
C.Human can make coffee according to customers’favor
D.A robot can control the strength of the coffee quite well