eatsa Technology Series

The Human Side of Automation

Contributed by Nora Naranjo, Mechanical Engineer @ eatsa

The concept of robotics has been intrinsically tied with social evolution, working as a mirror of human and cultural desires, fears, and passions at the given time. Since its definition in 1920 in K. Čapek’s play, R.U.R. ‘Rossum’s Universal Robots,’ the mediatic portrayal of robots in mainstream media has changed from soulless production muscle to soulful embodiments of human kindness such as in ‘The Iron GIant’ and ‘Wall-e,’ to an array of invincible vigilantes (Terminator, RoboCop), or mass-manufactured sentient human replacements (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Blade Runner).

Exponential growth in processing power per unit of size helped robotics evolve from a technological sideshow to a main component of daily life, making consumer facing robots a constant topic not only in industry publications but also in non-technical news sources. Concepts like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and industrial automation are now pervasive marketing buzzwords, while self-driving cars and automated manufacturing facilities have become a conflicting reality: humanity has built a world of overwhelming complexity and is pushing technology to simplify it on a quest for speed, efficiency and economy, while the human impact of these developments, such as job displacement and income inequality, take a backseat.

The cycles on policy-making and legislation are significantly slower than the tech industry’s innovation pace, making policy outdated or obsolete almost immediately after it is passed. Companies should not wait for governments to regulate automated systems, instead they should hold themselves accountable for the impact of their actions and their inventions. I believe engineers have the power to drive the decisions to hold their systems, and to a larger extent, their company accountable.

Since I joined eatsa a year and a half ago, there have been significant changes to the company’s mission and values. eatsa evolved from a restaurant company looking to cut the costs of healthy and sustainable food by the means of automation, to a tech company striving to help partners scale their operations by building intuitive hardware and software systems that significantly reduce restaurant employee turnaround, order queues, pickup times, and increase overall customer and employee happiness. But it is one eatsa’s values, defined by employee consensus that acts as a moral compass for system development: Be Human.

The morality of a company should not only focus on immediate positive results such as: faster store throughput, increased ROI for partners, and improved customer experiences, but also the impact those systems have on society:

• Faster throughput makes food more affordable and reduces stress on restaurant employees.
• Automated systems make food preparation more ergonomic and drastically reduces the risk of work related injuries.
• Intuitive systems ease the learning curve for a broader range of technical and cultural backgrounds, enabling restaurants to have a more diverse employee base.

Striving to facilitate human-machine symbiosis and enhance the capabilities of both machine and human must be an essential part of the product development cycle. Resourceful Design and Engineering teams will thrive on the challenge to create a real human-centric system, and build systems that will enhance the productivity and performance of both business and worker alike. I am proud to be part of a company building a better future for humans, and sincerely hope eatsa’s approach to robotics and automation becomes a trend in both the industry and media.