Starship Technologies has launched its self-driving food delivery robots in Sunderland, working with the online delivery company Just Eat. This culinary test kitchen includes the real user orders of a dozen local eateries. One of those restaurants is Koji, a colorful, busily Asian joint on High Street West. The two-year trial will determine how well these robots can serve the increasing need for food deliveries. Beyond that, it will help mitigate fear of job displacement.
Each of the robots feature six durable, non-pneumatic rubber wheels, and a flashy, attention-getting orange flag. They figure out complex inner city routes by themselves! Powered by demanding cameras, they are able to effectively sense and navigate the urban environment on their own, adding to the complex, yet futuristic delivery landscape emerging in Sunderland.
Peter Richardson, general manager of Koji, said he was hopeful the trial would prove successful. Customer feedback, he said, has been off the charts. He emphasized the robots’ amazing potential to help with surge capacities and employee shortages.
“It’s not taking away from the human side, because there’s always the option, but if you think about Christmas, New Year, Ramadan, then you’ve got things where the robots can take over when people want time off.” – Peter Richardson
In an effort to reduce anxiety around robots taking American jobs, Koji founder and chief executive Ahti Heinla tried to tamp down fears. Most importantly, he reiterated that the technology would never replace human couriers, but rather enhance and support their work. Heinla added that humans will be needed for more complex delivery routes for the foreseeable future.
“We are adding a new delivery option and it doesn’t replace people.” – Ahti Heinla
Starship Technologies remains undeterred with its push. They claim that their demand exceeds the supply of couriers they wish to have around the globe. These robots will deliver excellent help to people who are much less mobile. And they will reach the Americans who are not able to walk out their front doors.
Even with these guarantees, worries remain for local residents and labor leaders. Technology has a massive impact on jobs, particularly if you’re a young adult like Rachael Atkinson, who lives in Sunderland. She described the situation as a “little crazy” and questioned the fact that they might eliminate “millions of people’s jobs.”
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) had their claws out. President Alex Marshall reacted to the arrival of delivery robots as very “dystopian” and predicted a bad future for workers in that industry.
“Robots have a key role to play in the delivery of infrastructure to help meet the growing demand and certain routes will still require people to complete deliveries.” – Ahti Heinla
The trial represents a significant step towards integrating technology into everyday services, yet it raises crucial questions about workforce sustainability in an increasingly automated world.