Robotic butlers could be coming to a hotel near you

Robotic butlers could be coming to a hotel near you
(Image credit: Twitter.com/CNBC)

It looks like we're another step closer to having robots take over everything.

On Aug. 20, the Aloft hotel in Cupertino, California, will start a pilot program using a robotic butler (or Botlr) named A.L.O. (pronounced "el-oh"). Guests will be able to call the front desk and request items like extra towels or toothpaste, and a staff member will load it onto the Botlr and send it up to the room. Once the hotel room's number has been punched in, the Botlr makes its way through the hallways and to the elevator using Wi-Fi. If it works, you'll see Botlr fleets at close to 100 properties.

According to CNBC, the University of Oxford released a study saying that "47 percent of U.S. employment is at risk of being replaced by computerization." Starwood Hotels, which owns the Aloft brand, says that the Botlrs are not being introduced to act as substitutes for staff, but rather to make their lives easier by taking over minuscule tasks.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"It is certainly not replacing our staff but it is augmenting our ability to service our customers," Brian McGuinness, senior vice president for Aloft, told CNBC.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.