Now Magazine; Toronto’s liberal arts and culture magazine occasionally publishes interesting articles with a focus on technology and Toronto’s culture.
Editor Richard Trapunski takes a behind-the-scenes look at the popular delivery robots that seem to be getting a lot of attention in Toronto and on social media. He talks about the excitement people feel around seeing the non-threatening robots for the first time, and how they’ve became popular during the pandemic. The article attempts to answer a pressing social question; are these innocuous looking robots are a first attempt at the automation of food delivery and will they replace gig workers in the near future?
Uber Eats, Door Dash, Skip the Dishes and similar delivery apps have increased in popularity during the COVID-19 lockdown, and rely exclusively on human delivery at the moment. Does the CEO behind the startup believe in replacing humans with robots?
Some interesting facts we learned from the post are:
- The robots are named Geoffery and are owned and operated by a startup called Tiny Mile.
- The robots are intentionally made to look cute.
- The business and concept were developed in 2019, just before the pandemic.
- The robots themselves are not autonomous, instead they are operated and controlled by humans.
NOW MAGAZINE Who’s behind Toronto’s cute pink delivery robots? by Richard Trapunski.
