You may have already seen them in restaurants: waist-high machines that can greet guests, lead them to their tables, deliver food and drinks and ferry dirty dishes to the kitchen. Some have cat-like faces and even purr when you scratch their heads. But are robot waiters the future? It's a question the restaurant industry is increasingly trying to answer. Many think robot waiters are the solution to the industry's labor shortages.

Why would you even go to the drive-thru when the drive-thru can come to you? The choices that humans make aren't always the wisest. What is AI? Everything you need to know about Artificial Intelligence All too often, they're based on some mixture of self-regard, self-indulgence, and sheer laziness. You'd think, though, that if you really love a service, you'll remain loyal to it. Because here is the regular leader in truly human fast-food customer service deciding that it needs robotic help.