Are you ready for a robot to serve you coffee?
 

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.

Just this week, workers who operate about 2,500 large cranes at building sites went on strike. They were protesting the growing use of robotic small cranes for building. Other labor unions also have protested about the use of automated devices instead of human workers at Emart, South Korea’s biggest food store group.

South Korea has been an early adopter of automation. It had the highest percentage of robots to human workers in the world in 2017.

 

source: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/are-you-ready-for-a-robot-to-serve-you-coffee-

Comprehension

Who takes order in Dal.komm Coffee shop?
How does it take your order?
What do people think about a robot that serves coffee?
Give another industries that use automated services
How many crane operators went on strike last week? why?

Discussion

What do you think about automated services?
What different automated services do you alwasy use?
Do you like to go to coffee shop?
What do you think about a robot serving you coffee?
How does automated service affect the labor force in Korea?
What role will robots play in our society later this century?
What would society be like if robots took over our jobs?
Would you rather deal with a robot or a human in a store or government department?

Vocabulary

automated = to make a process in a factory or office operate by machines or computers
strike = a refusal to work organized by a body of employees as a form of protest, typically in an attempt to gain a concession or concessions from their employer.
cranes = A tall mechanical lifting device, often used for lifting heavy loads for industrial or construction purposes
labor unions = An organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer
struggling