Mouthing Off | Stop tech taking over in restaurants. I want a physical menu and real people – you can’t replace the human touch
- The advance of tech into the restaurant sector with things like QR code menus and robot waiters can be frustrating, and AI like Chat GPT could make it worse
- But what technology can’t do yet is taste – maybe ChatGPT could create something based on restaurant dishes it has processed, but it can’t compute flavours yet
If there’s such a thing as tech-shaming, I feel I’ve been experiencing it in restaurants.
When I sit down to eat now I’m as likely to be told to scan a QR code as handed a physical menu to order my food. If I ask for a proper menu, it is usually met with a patronising look from the waiter as he fetches a laminated hard copy.
Usually, it’s young Gen-Z part-timers who just can’t hide their disgust. Their face says, “I’m busy enough, boomer, can’t you just use your stupid smartphone?”
Call me a Luddite but I prefer to read a real menu in my hands than scroll down to the day’s special on my mobile. I like being able to see the whole board at a glance instead of flipping back and forth, up and down, to compare the appetisers and mains.
I don’t want to have to click on another page to see the drinks and desserts list. My eyes are tired enough looking at a screen all day. Plus, it’s very easy to get interrupted from my ordering by new notifications, or a particularly chatty WhatsApp thread dinging nonstop. I just don’t want to concentrate that hard for my dinner.