It can answer questions about the ingredients although it would probably be easier to just put that on a sticker I guess.

If machines like this are cost effective and become popular, it will likely have an impact on entry level jobs. A lot of so-called "unskilled" jobs face this threat, but is such a change sustainable for society?

The reporter talks about how real the experience was for them: "At first, they sounded distant and tinny, as if they were huddled around a phone in a prison cell. But as we chatted, they slowly started to sound more like themselves. They told me personal stories that I’d never heard. (...) And for a moment I forgot I wasn’t really speaking to my parents at all, but to their digital replicas."

It's kind of cool to think that we're getting to a point where you can have realistic conversation - and while I'm not sure how I feel about talking to dead relatives, this could be great for immersive storytelling, virtual companions, that sort of thing.

That's a really interesting perspective that hasn't come up from others, thanks for sharing that. Although, I do wonder about whether the final experience gets worse as fewer people are involved. Someone else commented about how their fries would be cold and their shakes warm by the time they arrived. And going by the self checkout example, I still go to the manned tills unless I have just a couple of items.

I don't know what the right answer is honestly, but there's a part of me that also just likes the idea of delivery droids - and maybe the future is indeed going to be about rover operators. That would be very cool.

I missed it by a few years :) I read another article about these some time ago and considered making a trip to Milton Keynes to order a pizza someday.

Wow that... Does not sound as sci-fi and cool as the articles make it seem like.

Honestly, while I'm not thrilled about the jobs aspect, this is so cool too. Hopefully they do some trials in London so I can see one in person someday!

That's true. There was a really good post I read on here that was by a Deliveroo rider in London, and you can see over the years how the experience changed and became a lot worse.

And that's when VC funding is still propping things up and hiding a lot of problems with business models. It can only get worse over time.

I'm super curious about these things, but have never seen one in person. I'd worry about accidentally hitting one if they were in my neighborhood. I also think half the dogs here would try and eat them lol

Not disagreeing that change has to come, but gig jobs seem to be one of the areas where a lot of new hiring is coming. So if those are the jobs that go away, won't that have a really bad impact? Though as other people point out, it's unlikely to happen very soon, so there's still time to figure out where people will land, I guess...

I wanted to try one so I looked them up last month and it was, like you say, very limited.

That's true. I also read an article on Vice last month about how one of these drove through a crime scene!

Robotics firms like Starship, which is headquartered in the United States, say they are creating new jobs and electric bots are greener than car or van drop-offs. But couriers' unions fear they bring a looming risk of job losses and worsening conditions for delivery riders and drivers.

But Starship says robots can bring benefits to society as they can take over some of the menial, poorly-paid tasks currently done by gig workers - and create new jobs for the humans who manage them.