Robot baristas can make coffee—but that doesn’t mean people have to like them

Cafe X, the robotic barista, has proved to be an object lesson in how tricky it is to automate even simple-sounding service jobs.

Too much caffeine: While the robot can make coffee faster than a person, its creators learned that customers find the bot’s rapid movements … a little unsettling. Humans, it turns out, like it better when coffee is prepared at human speeds.

Smile and wave: The team behind Cafe X has spent time a lot of time perfecting the robot’s gestures and “personality quirks.” It now acknowledges customers when they place an order (always a plus), can swirl coffee around in the cup and peer into coffee containers, and waves when the order is complete.