Chinese job security took a serious blow thanks to a new restaurant in Jiangsu Province, China. Staffed by 15 droids that not only carry food to a diner's table but help cook it as well, it seems that the wave of the future is scooting in on wheels.

Visitors to the Robot Restaurant in the city of Kunshan are treated to the novel service from start to finish. When diners walk in, a silvery usher robot with blinking LED eyes extends its mechanical arm to direct them and chirpily says, "Earth person hello. Welcome to the Robot Restaurant." Mechanized waiter 'bots glide along painted tracks on the floor, delivering food prepared by a robotic chef. There is even an electro-balladeer to set the mood with a serenade.

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The candy colored restaurant has a total of 15 robots servicing customers. 

Robot Restaurant is part of a growing trend, joining the mechanized staff at the Pengheng Space Capsules Hotel in Shenzhen and Harbin eatery that also uses robots for its service staff. Owners all cite the good sense of the move; robots can work 11 hours straight on a single charge, can speak up to 40 languages with perfect fluency, and do not need to be paid. The latter keeps prices low; the Pengheng Space Capsules Hotel charges just $12 USD a night.

And it is not just in China. This week, ChinaTopix reported on the trendy North American Aloft hotel chain employing an army of snappily-designed robot butlers. 

So do Chinese workers face doom at the hands of a Terminator programmed with social grace? Most likely not. While novel and a marvelous draw to snag customers, the robots perform the most basic tasks. Anything complicated requires a flesh-and-blood human. No need to call Sarah Conner. Yet.

TagsRobots