AI agent at HK airport restaurants

An AI agent engineered to fulfill the needs of the food service industry made its debut at a restaurant in the Hong Kong International Airport.

"Xiaoer", an AI agent, made its debut at a restaurant located in the Hong Kong International Airport, marking the first implementation of an AI Agent in the foodservice industry in Hong Kong. It supports voice interactions with customers, recommending dishes and sharing food stories to enhance the dining experience.

Reporter: (Currently, the system supports 3 languages, including English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Hi, could you please recommend something spicy? And please note that I don't eat pork?)

Customers express the interaction with AI allowed them to skip the hassle of communication and saved them time.

DANNY XU: "So we don't have a lot of time in this restaurant. So I just ask it to give us some, you know, pretty fast and not time consuming answer (food). So, the answer is pretty good and the food is delicious."

Anthony Lock, Founder of Xiaoer Smart Service and President of The Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades says this system could help alleviate the operational pressure on front-line staff members.

President, HK Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades ANTHONY LOCK: "We need to build up the culture for them. And also the management to take care their feeling, right? Deploying this kind of system is not to replace their employment, because it can boost their ability in serving their customers and knowing more about F&B knowledge."

Operators say the service is introduced to help restaurants address servere labor shortage and also make things more efficient.