Coca-Cola Is Bringing Artificial Intelligence to Vending Machines

Robots have already started taking over the world of beverages. We've seen artificial intelligence brew beer, come up with artsy-sounding names for craft beers, act as waiters for your beer order, and, lest you thought wine would be safe from the robot takeover, predict wine prices. Soon we may also see artificial intelligence infiltrate the world of soft drinks. In Australia, a team from Coca-Cola Amatil (Coca-Cola's manufacturer in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Samoa), is working on transforming vending machines to operate without anyone having to actually touch them. According to Journey, Coca-Cola's in-house magazine, the team has updated a machine in the town of Masterton, New Zealand so that, once it is cloud-connected, people can simply order a Coke using their phone.