The introduction of robot chefs at South Korea's Munmak rest stop is a notable example of automation addressing labor shortages and standardizing food quality. These robots can prepare up to 14 servings simultaneously, operating 24/7 to meet demand.

However, this shift raises concerns about the impact on traditional culinary practices and the roles of human chefs. While efficiency and consistency are achieved, the unique touch and cultural significance that human chefs bring to traditional dishes may be diminished.

It's worth considering a hybrid approach where robots handle repetitive tasks, allowing human chefs to focus on creativity and maintaining the cultural essence of the cuisine. This balance could help preserve culinary traditions while embracing technological advancements.

Excellent reporting on what human work in the post automation world looks like. The remaining human workers oversee and support an automated process. This is not by any means a new development, but it’s entering new sectors, including culinary and cognitive work, led by advances robotics and AI. The future will likely see more of the same patterns emerge in new sectors.

And then the truckers will be robots too.

The gripes aren't all that different from the typical case of people complaining that some business was better when the owner was doing things before he hired underlings and started spending most of his time managing.

I've spent a lot of time in Gangwon as I'm a big Sokcho fan, but was unaware that they had their own guksu. Begging the question, given Pyongyang Naengmyeon is better Naengmyeon, is Makguksu better than Pyongyang Naengmyeon?

Every time I see one of these I'm reminded of the AMFare system [0] which was tried in the 60s. It was basically the American fast food version of this. No AI, just hundreds of special purpose mechanisms to make burgers, hot dogs, milkshakes, etc. Never took off and was apparently a nightmare to clean.

I just had a look at the wikipedia page for the company behind it (American Machine and Foundry). AMfare isn't mentioned, but there is a section called "Bowling pinsetters and nuclear reactors".

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xop9py8zBY

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Machine_and_Foundry