Human replacement is coming to Brooklyn and is threatening to take over its famously trendy coffee culture.
New York City‘s first coffee shop run by robot baristas is coming to Greenpoint, where a two-armed robot called ADAM will serve up potentially hundreds and hundreds of cups of coffee a day at Botbar.
Beyond coffee-making, ADAM will have several other skills, including dancing for and waving at customers. The technological feat can produce up to 50 espresso drinks per hour. The new neighborhood haunt will also serve food.
‘Humans can be unpredictable; let the robot make your coffee,’ reads a sign in front of the café, which is slated to open in two weeks.
ADAM, the two armed counter robot, will serve up to 50 drinks per hour at the new Greenpoint, Brooklyn café
The machine-operated café appears to be the first of its kind in the city, though robots serving espresso isn’t entirely novel the country over. At the San Francisco International Airport, a robotic arm has been making drinks for travelers since 2021.
In Seattle – a city renowned for its coffee culture – start-up organization Artly recently raised $8.3million to open a line of fully automated cafes.
Botbar is a client of Richtech Robotics, a Las Vegas-based robotics manufacturer that claims its boys can make not only espresso drinks, but cocktails and bubble tea as well.
Between customer orders, the two-armed tabletop bots dance and gesture to customers.
Customers in want of a less-human coffee experience will place their orders and pay using a touch screen. It remains unknown whether the coffee shop will have additional human baristas and servers, or how its owners plan to comply with NYC’s requirement that businesses must accept cash.
The store has at least one human manager.
Fully automated cafes are a growing sector in the hospitality industry. More will likely continue popping up as owners and conglomerates look for ways to cut costs and respond to hiring shortages and low retention rates.
Critics of the trend say that robots are being used to replace minimum-wage employees, who would, in theory, hang around if they were paid more.
Last year, a small herd of robotic cat servers began popping up at dim sum parlors in Brooklyn and Queens.
Michael Wang, the CEO of WowRobee, a company marketing that sort of robot, said: ‘Owners are using the robot to reduce labor costs.’
Richtech, which in addition to robot baristas, sells robots that clean floors and deliver food, advertises its robots by saying the automated ‘workers’ need no breaks and ‘never take a sick day.’
Botbar will soon open at 666 Manhattan Avenue, between Norman and Bedford avenues
ADAM makes a coffee at the soon-to-be-open Botbar in Greenpoint
The multi-pronged bot will not need to take breaks or call in for sick days, according to the company that owns ADAM
Robot waiters and baristas have been creeping their way into the service industry for several years. At SFO, robot baristas have been serving travelers since 2021
The new Botbar café, which will also serve food, will open in Brooklyn inside of the next two weeks
Robots are being embraced by hospitality industry owners as a cost-cutting measure and way to eliminate human staff during shortages
While a number of consumers will clearly flock to Botbar to experience the novelty of a robot making a morning brew, other Brooklynites are not so thrilled about the development.
Ewelina Swiechowicz told the New York Post: ‘I’m not a fan of this. I need a regular coffee shop where I can speak to a person, not a robot.’
‘I don’t like the idea of robots taking over our world, our lives. We need people working.’
Botbar will soon open at 666 Manhattan Avenue, between Norman and Bedford avenues.
