OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Here at News 6, we’ve talked about how schools, police departments and even ourselves are being impacted by AI.
However, the team at Cecilia.ai has found a new way to integrate this innovative technology somewhere else – a bar.
Sara, billed as the world’s first working AI bartender, made her debut a month ago at Wyndham Orlando Resort & Conference Center near Celebration. The hotel is at 3011 Maingate Lane.
“We believe that this technology will bring a new dimension of enjoyment to the guests’ stay, blending the art of mixology with the marvels of AI robotics,” Nir Cohen, co-founder and VP of Marketing at Cecilia.ai, said in a prepared statement.
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According to the team at Cecilia.ai, Sara can make hundreds of different drinks, up to 120 beverages per hour. The AI can also verify ages and make conversation, according to the designer’s website.
Sara serves drinks from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. at the hotel’s restaurant, H Street Grille.
Agustin Sosa, assistant general manager of the Wyndham Orlando Resort, said Sara is a great fit for the location.
“Well, we’re actually looking for the best experience always for our guests,” Sosa said. “With that, our guests, they want to want to relax and our bar is pretty busy. So sometimes they are looking for a place to go and have a cocktail without having to have the whole interaction in the bar. But with this, it takes it to a different level.”
Sara can check IDs, as well as take payment and tips which ultimately go to the resort’s bartenders, such as Haizel Gura.
“Any tips that she makes, they go to our team, so that’s phenomenal,” Gura said. “We love to have her”
Sosa said the team collaborates with Sara rather than competes.
“It’s been a cooperation between our bartenders giving the recipes to Sara and teaching those to her,” Sosa said, “At the same time, at the end of every interaction, Sara asks if you would like to give a tip to our fellow bartenders and those tips go directly to the team.”
Meanwhile, workers are not as concerned that AI will impact their job, according to a Pew Research Center survey. The findings revealed that 19% of working U.S. adults surveyed said AI in the workplace will help more than harm them, compared to 17% who say AI will hurt more than help.
In the same study from the Pew Research Center, 14% of those surveyed who work in the hospitality, service and arts industries said the use of AI over the next 20 years will help more than hurt, 29% said it will equally help and hurt and 40% said they weren’t sure.
To add on, Dr. Rebecca Leis, a computer science program director at Full Sail University, previously spoke to News 6 about the world of AI.
Leis mentioned that this technology is a way for machines to mimic human behavior, even comparing it to the character Data from Star Trek. She also explains that employees should not be worried that they will lose their jobs to a machine, as AI is meant to ease the workflow.
“The purpose of AI especially in workflow is not to replace the human, we still want to have that human element (...) We are finding that sometimes AI is still a little fuzzy or incorrect in certain instances. So, we want to have someone there to essentially supervise it,” Leis said.
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