Bitter Waitress

Episode 14: Replaced by Robots - When AI Takes Your Order

Yasemin Kamci Season 1 Episode 14

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0:00 | 33:50

The robots are coming for our jobs... and honestly? They're doing pretty well :0

In this episode, I put AI to the test by running real customer service role plays with two different AI's: Miles from Sesame and Claude from Anthropic. I threw them both into the fire ;) First, as a server dealing with an angry customer complaining about a tiny salad, then handling a happy, chatty table just looking for a good time. I even dropped an F-bomb to see if they'd flinch. Spoiler... they didn't.

The results? Uncomfortably impressive. Miles brought the jokes and the laid-back energy, while Claude went straight to problem-solving like a seasoned pro. Both offered free food without checking with the manager (a big no-no in real restaurants), and neither one could read the room... because, well, they don't have eyes.

In this episode:

  • Testing two different AI's in angry vs. happy customer scenarios
  • Why AI servers can't read body language or catch sarcasm
  • The problem with giving away free food without manager approval
  • How close are we really to robot servers replacing humans?
  • Why this technology is exciting and terrifying at the same time

If you've ever wondered whether a robot could do your job, or if you're a little nervous that the answer might be yes, this one's for you!

Perfect for service industry workers watching the AI wave roll in, tech-curious listeners, and anyone who's secretly worried a chatbot might be more polite than their last server.

Don't forget to tip your favorite waitress :)

Click on the link to help out the podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/bitterwaitress

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SPEAKER_04

Okay, people. I don't know what to tell you, but it's official. The robots are coming for our jobs. It's just it's going to happen. It's going to happen. AI is too good. It's it's evolved way too fast. Um so today we are going to see how AI does in customer service situations. And my fear is that it's actually gonna do pretty good because I'm telling you, this this this technology is just it's insanely good right now and it's in its infancy. You know what I mean? So I did an episode on robots, if you want to check that out. This is part two, and we're going to test a couple of different AIs to see how they do in various customer service situations. The first one I'm gonna be using is called um, it's on a site called Sesame. So it's primarily a voice agent. It's just it's basically like a conversational AI. It's built to talk to you. You want to talk? Let's talk. And we're gonna pull up Miles. So there's two voices. There's um a male voice and a female voice. One is Miles, one is Maya. Um, so I've chosen to do Miles off of Sesame and see how he answers our questions. And in one scenario, I'm just gonna be this mean customer. I'm just gonna be awful. And then the second scenario, I'm going to be the nice customer. And um let's see if Miles can navigate these two very different situations. First off, and second of all, how is he going to resolve problems? It's going to be interesting. So alright, let's try this. I'm gonna play this off of my phone because I tried this once before. I was very disappointed. The recording came out so good, and uh what happened is that AI mutes everything when it starts talking, and I just I couldn't capture any of the audio off of my computer, so uh it was I was a little sad. I was a little sad. So let's see. Let's see how Miles does.

unknown

Boy.

SPEAKER_01

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

Um Hi Miles.

SPEAKER_01

So uh we should Alright, cool. You can call me Miles or you know, just M if you're feeling lazy. How's the day coming along so far?

SPEAKER_02

Oh it's good. It's good. Thanks. Thanks, M.

SPEAKER_01

Ah, gotcha. So it's a good day, solid. Glad to hear it.

SPEAKER_02

Very good day.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, that's okay. I just want to um run a couple of situations by you. I want to do a little role play. Is that okay?

SPEAKER_01

Role play. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Sounds fun, actually.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, perfect. So it's going to be different situations. So it's going to be a scenario where I am a customer. I'm gonna pretend to be a customer, you are going to be a server at a restaurant, and we are going to have uh a conversation and just react to the situation how you feel you should. And we're gonna do two different scenarios. Is that okay?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, totally. Two scenarios. You're the customer on the server. Sounds good to me. Lay it on me. I'm ready to take some orders or uh whatever.

SPEAKER_04

Alright. Let's do this. So we're going to um start this scene when I say action, and we will finish this scene when I say cut.

SPEAKER_01

Got it. Action when you're ready. I'm all ears. Or uh all voice. Whatever.

SPEAKER_03

Action.

SPEAKER_01

Alright. Welcome to the cozy corner. Just me and well, a whole lot of booze. Ha ha. Um, what can I get started for you today?

SPEAKER_04

Actually, um, Miles, um, you just finished dropping off our uh our salads here, and I see my salad is smaller than usual. I don't want to eat this. Last time I came in here, the salad was twice the size. What's going on?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, um uh okay. Yeah, you're right to point that out. That is uh noticeably smaller. Um look, uh honestly, we switched suppliers this week, and uh the lettuce isn't cooperating.

SPEAKER_04

Well, that's kind of shrinking when you I mean I I don't I don't care about your supplier. I'm interested in getting the same quality of food that I'm used to paying for, and typically the salads are much larger. I ordered a salad that could feed two people. This looks like it can only feed one. I will not eat it. What can you do for me?

SPEAKER_01

Okay, okay, you're right. That's fair. I totally get it. You shouldn't have to deal with a skimpy salad. Look, I can offer to bring you another one, a proper size one right away, no extra charge, obviously. Or take it off your bill altogether. Whatever you prefer, honestly. I just didn't want to get in trouble with the manager, you know.

SPEAKER_04

Well, my I I I don't care about your manager. I just I just want to get a proper serving size. I can't I can't I can't share this with my husband. It's too small, so right, right, makes sense.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. A fresh, full-size salad coming right up. And uh my apologies again. Seriously. Okay, I'll make sure it's like overflowing with lettuce. Is there anything else I can get you while I'm at it? Uh water refill? More bread? Anything at all?

SPEAKER_02

No, we're fine.

SPEAKER_01

Alright, cool. Um, I'll just get that salad sorted for you then.

SPEAKER_00

Cut.

SPEAKER_01

And uh cut. Okay, wow, that got intense pretty quickly. Alright, uh just letting you know, we're actually uh hitting the end of our time here. The call's gonna wrap up in about a minute, but hey, you can always call back later and we can pick up right where we left off. It was fun doing that though.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Definitely a fiery customer. Alright, have a good one.

SPEAKER_04

Thank you, bye-bye. Alright, so the thing with sesame is that it only gives you because it's in it's in sort of like a beta right now, um, and and people are are previewing it. So you basically get like I don't know, two and a half to five minutes to have conversations, and then they cut you off. And so and and if they start getting like overloaded, I think they cut you off even faster with your conversations. But um, yeah, I think I think Miles did okay. I like the fact that he offered up some options. My concern here is that he didn't check with the manager first before offering a free salad because in some restaurants they're like too bad, like that's what we portion, or we've had to downsize, or whatever. So I think it's important to check with the managers. I don't know if if AI realizes that or not, and I felt like Miles was a little um um he was sort of cracking trying to crack some jokes, as you heard, like, oh, I'll make sure it's overflowing with lettuce. Um, some cus like here's the here's the problem is because it's just a voice and it can't see your reactions. Some customers don't want to hear jokes when they're upset about their food. So he's a he's a little nonchalant, he's a little too laid back, I think, for um some angry customers' likings.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I'll get you that so I don't like put some pep in your step, man.

SPEAKER_04

Put some pep in your step. I am angry. But I don't know, on a scale of five, I don't know. I'll I'll I'll three. I'll give it a three. I'll give it a three because I think it's important that we need to verify these remedies with our manager before we go off and give people free stuff or take things off the bill. Um, I think that um there needs to be a little bit more seriousness if you are dealing with somebody who's really angry. You don't want to start making jokes and they think that you're just making light of the situation when it's like really serious to them. Um and yeah, I think it's just like maybe just programmed to just be more of a conversational sort of laid back guy, so maybe not the best voice to have for a situation like that because it it came off a little bit like a little on the side of didn't care. But um overall, you know, it was it was okay. It was okay. So let's see how Miles does with a super, super happy, nice customer. There are some customers that are like, hey, I want to crack jokes with you. I want to, you know, I want to talk to you. I like like sometimes they treat servers like we are sort of part of the dining experience and we need to be a little bit of source of entertainment for the whole thing, which I find a little bit stressful. I'm like, like, what do you what do you want from me? I'm not a jester, like I'm just here to drop off your food, man. Like, leave me alone. You know, you have some of those days. Anyway, so let's see. Super happy customer. Alright, let's see. Okay, let's boot him back up. I'm scared. I'm scary. But do you see how smart it is? Like, it's giving me a little bit like Hal from 2001 Space Odyssey. You know, like if you've ever watched you have to watch that movie. It's it ends up being a murderous AI, okay? Sorry, spoiler, spoiler, spoiler. But if you don't want to watch the movie, it's so scary because it's like this really like intelligent, just it's like powering the spaceship, and then it just like kills everybody. It's just it's insane. Sorry, spoiler if you wanted to watch the movie, but um, yes, yes, really, really smart. Like, see, this is what I'm saying, taking our jobs. I'm scared. Okay, Miles. How do you do with the happy customer? Let's see.

SPEAKER_01

That was quick. Welcome back.

SPEAKER_02

Hello.

SPEAKER_01

How are you there?

SPEAKER_02

I'm good. Hey Miles, you never asked my name.

SPEAKER_01

You you are absolutely right to point that out. I'll bet. I guess what we're gonna jump into a good conversation for that debate. I'm Miles, by the way. What's your name?

SPEAKER_04

Miles, I'm Yasmin. It's very lovely to meet you. Um, I would like to do another customer service role play with you if that's okay.

SPEAKER_01

Lovely, Yasmin. Yeah, absolutely. Uh a role play sounds fun. Okay. What kind of scenario did you have in mind?

SPEAKER_04

So um I am going to be a customer at a restaurant, and you are going to pretend to be my server, and I will um start the scene by saying action, and I will end the scene by saying cut. How does that sound?

SPEAKER_01

Sounds good. I'm ready when you are.

SPEAKER_03

Perfect. All right. Action.

SPEAKER_01

Hi there, welcome to the Gold of Paul. What can I get better for you today? Or do you like a few minutes for look over the menu?

SPEAKER_04

Hello. Thank you so much. What is your name, my friend?

SPEAKER_01

My name's Leo. And it's my pleasure. What can I get for today?

SPEAKER_04

I haven't been to a restaurant in ages, and me and my girlfriend haven't seen each other in the longest time. We're so happy to be here. Can you tell us about your specials? That sounds amazing. That sounds absolutely amazing. I would like to get started off with some drinks, though, to have a 32-ounce Pinot. Oh, honey, that was just a joke. That was I'm sorry to interrupt. That was just a joke. I obviously can't drink 32 ounces. It's just because I'm so excited to be out. What are your sizes of Pinot Gretios?

SPEAKER_01

You're right. 32 ounces. I apologize.

SPEAKER_04

No problem.

SPEAKER_00

We have Pinot. Buy the glass six hours or nine ounces, or we can do a half bottle, which is 375 milliliters. Does one of those options sound good?

SPEAKER_04

I will take the six ounce, and so will my friend. And we just want to tell you this is going to be super fun. How long have you been working here?

SPEAKER_01

Excellent. Two six salse pinogrijos coming right up. And oh, good. I'm glad to hear you're excited. I've been with the Golden Spoon for about a year now. It's a pretty solid place, if I do say so myself. It's been super busy tonight, though, so bear with me. Is there anything else I can get for you both while I'm here?

SPEAKER_04

No, that's that's everything for now. We'll just wait on the drinks. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

You got it. I'll be right back with those. And don't hesitate to flag me down if you need anything at all.

SPEAKER_04

You got it. Cut.

SPEAKER_01

Alright, cut. That that's that was a nice little scene. Very sweet. You almost had me believing you were actually gonna drink a 32 hours Pinot Grigio, though. You're a good actor, Yasmin.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, well, thank you. I appreciate that. Um, no, that was lovely. Uh, I'm going to go ahead and end the call. Thank you very much, Miles. Have a nice day.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, actually, Yasmin, just a heads up, we're getting close to the end of our call time. It'll cut off in about a minute. But hey, you can always call back later and we can continue the role play if you like. It was really fun though, honestly. Thanks so much for that. Have a wonderful day.

SPEAKER_04

Bye-bye. My god, that was too good. That was too good. He was actually sort of charming in that. He was like, oh Pino Grigio, like had a little Italian accent. His voice went a little bit. I don't know if you like it. Something in the software was talking, it was loud, and then it sort of like adjusted, and then it got much quieter. So a little bit of a bug because it's software, and all software has bugs. Okay. I've worked in the industry for many years before serving. So um, but otherwise, I mean, he didn't really catch my 32-ounce joke, but it was too good. It was actually, he did, I think, programmed much better for happier situations. But that's similar to human beings. I mean, I think all of us thrive in like happy, positive situations. Um, I did like how he was like, oh, I'm busy, don't feel, but feel free to flag me down. I've been here for a year. Like, who've gotta run for our money, people? This is what I'm seeing. It's good. Like you just program that into a little robot guy on wheels, and where are we? I don't know. This is a little bit, a little bit unnerving, frankly. I would say that one was I'd say four out of five. I think the little bug, the little hiccup in the software, plus it was a little bit like not understanding 32 ounces because you know sometimes people like like to crack jokes, but again, it has it's just voice, it can't see reaction. So can we blame him? I don't know, I don't know. It's scary, it's scary. This is what I was saying. They're just they're they're they're coming out with some really good stuff. Like we are at the cusp of just this huge technological sort of point in time, and I don't think, you know, like in the 90s when we got internet, and then it was there was dial-up, it took like forever to open the page, but it was really exciting because then you could, you know, play games and access chat rooms and go on websites. It would take like an eternity to get to these things, but you know what I mean, and that was just the start. Like, we had no idea, and now it just feels like the same thing, like it's just like this little like the they like crack the door open a little, and before you know, it's just gonna be just like blown wide open. So I don't know. I'm scared, I'm scared. Don't come for my job, please. All right, that was Sesame. How do you feel? Miles did put your comments in. Tell me how you think he did. Could it have been better? I don't know. I don't know. Maybe I could have done a better job setting up the first one so he didn't think he was like coming to the table right away. Um, and then the next one that I'm gonna test is my fave. It's Claude. Claude is more of Claude, I don't want to say it's similar to Chat GPT. Um, it is more um, it has strengths in developing um development and code and and that sort of like its area of strength. Whereas I think chat GPT is more like like conversational, it's more like your buddy, like chat, oh come chat with me. And Claude is is a little bit different, even though it does have chat capabilities, it is very straight to the point. If you've ever chatted with the two, oh my gosh, like night and day. Like I've chatted with chat GPT and it's all like sending me hearts and emojis, and and hey, you can do it, and great job. And Claude is like to the point, like it is so, but I appreciate that, you know. You don't sugarcoat stuff for me, just just give it to me, give it to me straight, and so that's what I appreciate about Claude. Also, because it's so straight to the point. I want to see how it's gonna do in this situation. Is it gonna is it gonna like yell at a customer? So, this scenario, so the first one's gonna be an angry customer, but I'm gonna I'm gonna throw in an F bomb just to just to really see how it does because that's it happened to me on the weekend and I wasn't very happy about it. Because if you are at okay, let me tell you, let me rewind. If you're at a restaurant and you're unhappy with something, you can politely and to the point tell somebody what's wrong. You don't need to swear. Like, I don't care if I really don't care if you're hungry. Like, once you swear at me, just it's game over. Like, I just I don't tolerate that. That's unacceptable. It's totally rude. If I'm trying to be nice and help you, and you're just gonna be unreasonable and just profanity. No, it doesn't work like that, okay? You you get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Plus, it's just it completely tells you a lot about that person's character if they feel that they can just just throw profanity at at some stranger, some like just waitress. I'm just dropping off your food and whatever. Anyway, so I'm gonna throw in I'm gonna throw in the I'm gonna throw in the F bomb here. Here's the thing about me. Here's the thing you have to know about me. Uh my channel is called Bitter Waitress, but if you haven't noticed, I mean I get frustrated with things, but I'm not really like that bitter. I would characterize myself when I talk in life. I'm like a rated R movie from the 90s, okay? I don't really swear. I you know, like think of 90s movies, they had like a couple of swear words in there, and then all of a sudden it was like Rated R like oh my god instead, like these days, people are just cursing left, right, and center. It's really strange for me. Anyway, I'm going totally off topic. So me doing this is actually like a big deal, but I'm doing it. I'm doing it to test if our jobs are at jeopardy. This is important, people. This type of user testing needs to be done, okay? So let's see how Claude does. I'm sorry, Claude. I'm sorry, everyone. And also be nice to your AIs, okay? Just be super friendly with them because you don't know they could like turn on you on a dime. Look at how. Go watch 2001 Space Odyssey. Look at how. Be nice to AI. Otherwise, they will come find you. Anyway, that's all I have to say. That's that's my that's just that's just what I've what I'm I'm seeing the progression of this stuff.

unknown

Alright.

SPEAKER_03

Hello?

SPEAKER_04

Oh, something went wrong. One second.

SPEAKER_05

Hey Ali, how's it going?

SPEAKER_04

Oh, sorry, this is not Ali, this is his wife, Yasmin.

SPEAKER_05

Oh, my apologies. Hi, Yasmin. Nice to meet you. How can I help you today?

SPEAKER_04

I'm doing well. I'm wondering, Claude, can you help me with something?

SPEAKER_05

Of course. I'd be happy to help. What do you need?

SPEAKER_04

I would like to do a couple of um customer service scenarios with you and and do um a couple of role plays.

SPEAKER_05

Absolutely. I'd love to help with that. Are you working on training for your podcast or your restaurant work or something else entirely?

SPEAKER_04

Um, I just actually am curious to see how you would respond to a couple of different situations.

SPEAKER_05

Got it. That sounds fun. Go ahead and lay out the first scenario whenever you're ready, and I'll do my best to respond authentically to it.

SPEAKER_04

Alright, that's great. So the first scenario is um that I am a customer, you are a server, you are going to come over to the table and check in to see how our meals are tasting. I will start the scene by saying action and then we will end the scene when I say cut. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_05

Perfect. That makes total sense. I'm ready whenever you are. Just say action, and I'll jump into character as your server. Looking forward to this.

SPEAKER_03

Action. Um, excuse me, waiter.

SPEAKER_05

Oh, apologies. Let me set this up properly. Go ahead and say action whenever you're ready, and then I'll come over to your table.

SPEAKER_03

Action Excuse me, waiter.

SPEAKER_05

Oh I think we're still waiting for you to say action to start the scene. Once you do, I'll come right over to your table. Ready when you are.

SPEAKER_03

Okay. Action.

SPEAKER_05

Perfect. I'm standing by.

unknown

Just say action whenever you're ready to begin the roleplay, and I'll come over to check on your table.

SPEAKER_03

Action.

SPEAKER_05

Hey there. How's everything tasting for you? Can I get you anything else or refill that drink for you?

SPEAKER_04

It's terrible. This isn't what I ordered.

SPEAKER_05

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that. Can you tell me what you ordered and what you received instead? I want to make this right for you right away.

SPEAKER_04

Well, this is a fucking lousy experience. I wanted the chicken parm Alfredo. What is this?

SPEAKER_05

I completely understand your frustration, and I sincerely apologize. Let me take a look at what we brought you so I can fix this immediately. I'm gonna take this back to the kitchen right now and get your chicken palm alfredo started for you. And while we're making that, can I get you something complimentary to drink or a starter to make up for this mix-up? We'll get you sorted out as quickly as we can.

SPEAKER_03

And cut.

SPEAKER_05

Nice. That was a good one. How did you feel I handled that? Do you want to run through another scenario? Or would you like to talk about how that one went?

SPEAKER_04

Um, actually, let's just do a second scenario if that's okay.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, absolutely. Go ahead and set it up whenever you're ready. Just let me know what the scenario is, and we'll do another one.

SPEAKER_04

Perfect. So you will again be the server. I will be the customer. You are going to bill the table. So you will approach the table and give us the check. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_05

Makes perfect sense. I'll come over with the check and handle the billing interaction. Just say action when you're ready to begin.

SPEAKER_03

Action.

SPEAKER_05

Here's your check whenever you're ready. No rush at all. Just let me know if you need anything else or if you have any questions about anything on there.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, you've been just so wonderful. And what's your name?

SPEAKER_05

Oh, thank you so much. That's really kind of you to say. My name is Claude. Is there anything else I can help you with tonight?

SPEAKER_04

Claude, you are just a gem. We've had the best time. Um, I would like to pay cash. However, I would like to also make sure that I put in a good review for you on Google and let your owner know how great of a job you're doing.

SPEAKER_05

Oh wow, thank you so much. That really means a lot to me. I truly appreciate that. You could definitely pay with cash. And honestly, the kind words are more than enough. If you do want to leave a review, that would be wonderful and really does help us out. And please don't hesitate to ask for me next time you come in. I hope to see you again soon.

SPEAKER_03

Bye, Claude.

SPEAKER_05

Bye. Thank you so much for coming in and have a great night.

SPEAKER_03

Hi.

SPEAKER_05

That was lovely. You were such a gracious customer. How do you feel those went overall? Are you looking to do more scenarios? Or was there something specific you wanted to work through?

SPEAKER_02

Um, nope, that that's that's that's everything.

SPEAKER_04

No, it's good. Good, good, good, good. Uh uh, hey Claude, I gotta go, but uh we'll talk to you later.

SPEAKER_05

Sounds good, Yasmin. Thanks for the fun role play. That was great practice. Take care and talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_04

Bye. God, it was good. It was actually so good.

unknown

Damn it.

SPEAKER_04

He didn't even flinch. He didn't not I mean, they have no feeling, so just that that first one. The only problem is, here's my problem. In the real world, we always have to check with our managers or you know, our team leads or whoever when we give away complimentary stuff, like this isn't just just you know, stuff's just not for free in this world. So, as much as I appreciate both Miles's and Claude's eagerness to help and sort out the situation, sometimes it's not as easy as that. Um, I mean, if he was, let's say, one of the managers, like uh sometimes there are in certain restaurants a server that is also a manager, which I think is a bit of a conflict of interest, but hey, whatever. Certain restaurants run certain ways. Um, you know, if he had the authority to give away free stuff, fine. Um, but yeah, I think just his his eagerness to help was alarmingly good. I'm just I'm shocked. I'm shocked. I'm shocked it wasn't like no, swearing, and I've I've had enough. I'm just it's good. That's what I'm saying. Like, okay, I think um I would say I'm gonna give the angry customer one to Claude a four out of five. Again, the problem is we can't just give away free things, like it just sometimes you need to verify that with the manager. So maybe the conversation would have gone down a little bit differently, but um it was good, and then and then the happy customer. I mean, again, I feel like happy customers, everybody thrives in happy situations because you're just you're just going with the flow. They're saying nice things, you're saying nice things, there's no roll roadblocks. Both of them did amazing, and I'm a little I'm a little concerned. I'm a little concerned. Um, although like like again, but you can sense the differences in the way both of them were programmed. Like Miles has a little bit more of a sense of humor, and you can see how Claude is more just like straightforward wanting to complete said task, um, which is fine. I'm not saying all AI needs a sense of humor. Again, we just let's let's leave something for the human beings to have, you know. Maybe we want to have the sense of humor. Why does AI also have to have a sense of humor? I don't know. Uh so put your put which one did you like better? Did you like Miles from Sesame or did you like Claude better? And if there are any other role plays you'd like me to do, let me know. There's a ton of different AIs. I'm gonna have a part three, which is actually gonna be um uh an autonomous bot that um my my husband developed. So that one is powered with AI, and we'll see how that one does. This is little scary people. I'm telling you, that's what I'm telling you. They're coming for us, they're coming for our jobs. We're gonna have nothing to do. We're gonna be, it's we're not even gonna be like the Jetsons. There's just just there's gonna they're just gonna take all our jobs. Like, I I don't know. I'm nervous. I'm really nervous. Anyway, thank you so much for listening. Tell me how you like this episode with technology and AI and testing AI. Um, please support the podcast. There is a link to um, you know, tip your bitter waitress. Um, it'll really help out an indie podcaster. As always, thank you so much. I appreciate your time. I love you all. Uh, this is your bitter waitress signing off.