Analysis of robot hotel: Reconstruction of works with robots

Abstract

Due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, discussions are progressing on how robots could replace human labor. Conventional surveys have suggested that human labor is expected to gradually be replaced as tasks become automated. We conducted a survey at the world's first robot hotel recently opened in Japan - called a Henn-na hotel (“strange/change hotel”) in Japanese - which already uses robots for most of the work. We discovered that human labor is divided into small tasks, and that robot actions affect human emotional control. However, the hotel not only divides human work but also reconstructs it from tasks. Moreover, the purpose of reconstruction is not simply for replacement of works. Such modification of task is often observed taking place in humansystem interactions. It is an extremely creative process of labor emerging in this area.