It’s less like “Judgment Day” and more like, “How can I help you today?”
Merriam Webster defines “robot” as the following: “a machine that resembles a living creature in being capable of moving independently (as by walking or rolling on wheels) and performing complex actions.” Resembles a living creature? Complex actions? You’d be forgiven for thinking they’re unsettling, courtesy of literal decades of science fiction/one franchise in particular that just can’t stay dead. But, actually, in a 2016 study from UK travel site Travelzoo, more than 6,000 travelers all over the world said they expect robots to play a big role in their lives by 2020.
Additionally, two-thirds of those in the study said they’d be comfortable with robots operating within the travel industry. This is reassuring because those little terminators (kidding!) are definitely running around—here’s a look at some not-so-scary robots (their “complex actions” are mostly relegated to tasks like grasping and moving objects) that have made their way into the vacation business in recent times.