A human-like AI robot, that is eerily good at mimicking movements, has sparked a debate among social media users.

A Chinese tech company named Astribot has unveiled its latest advancement, which is powered by artificial intelligence.

The Shenzhen-based organization has been developing the robot, known as S1, for years and plans to release it commercially later this year.

According to Astribot, S1 is much faster and more powerful than your average human.

Watch the demonstration video below: 

The humanoid can carry out movements with a top speed of 10 meters per second, and hold a payload of 10 kg per arm. For comparison, an adult male can reach speeds of roughly seven meters per second.

In a demonstration video shared to show S1's abilities, the robot is seen performing mindblowing tasks such as repairing a piece of furniture, flipping a sandwich in a frying pan, pouring drinks, folding clothes, and operating a vacuum cleaner.

The clip highlights how technology has advanced so much that these robots can become the house employees of the future.

Many people were left fascinated by S1, stating that human-like AI robots should only be introduced to perform daily tasks.

One user wrote: "Yes. This is what robots need to be. Not looking or behaving like a human. They are great at this kind of thing," and another agreed, noting: "Exactly, gets bit creepy if they are too human-like."

"They should look like friendly machines we can get home and can trust. that's the crux of it which apparently many robotics companies seem not to get for some reason," they explained.

A third exclaimed: "HOLY S**T this is incredible," while a fourth added: "Probably the best one I have seen in terms of speed and dexterity. Really cool."

Meanwhile, others expressed fear toward the invention.

"While I do love this, we’re looking at a future where the poor/unskilled compete for a dwindling number of jobs driving wages downward," someone said.

Hospitality tech company Loman AI spoke out about robots in commercial kitchens and revealed that it will become a common sight in the industry.

“New improvements in robotics, AI, and how robots see and understand their environment, let them do complicated cooking tasks safely,” it said, per News.com.au. “The cost of these robots is going down, making it easier for more restaurants to start using them.”

The company believes that soon, robot chefs will be able to create their own recipes.

S1 "can learn, think and work like people," adding: "They can use human tools and equipment to help people complete boring, difficult or dangerous tasks," per Astribot.

The site also notes that the parent company, Stardust Intelligence, was founded by Lai Jie, who also worked with Tencent Robotics Laboratory, Baidu, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Featured image credit: Jeff J Mitchell / Getty

McDonald's is currently testing a new restaurant that is fully automated - meaning no human interaction while ordering your food.

Those that have gone into a McDonald's restaurant in the last few years will know that human interaction has been reduced while ordering your food.

Gone are the days when you would walk up to the counter and place your order with a member of staff - instead it's now done by using an interactive screen and waiting for your order number to be called.

There are still cash registers for anyone who fancies a bit of a chat or wants to pay with cash - but you might get a peculiar look when you walk up to it.

McDonald's is now looking to take away all human interaction by opening a new style of restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, where you don't have to see another soul.

A video of the new system being trialed has been uploaded to TikTok by user @FoodieMunster - showing a restaurant with no staff and no tables.

The new style of the restaurant only does drive-thru and takeout orders, and your food is delivered to you by a conveyer belt meaning at no point do you even see a member of staff.

Don't panic - the food is still cooked by humans, it just won't be a human who gives you the order.

Developing the story further on his Instagram page, Foodie Munster revealed that you can order ahead on the McDonald's app and pull up to the drive-thru window where a robotic arm will hand you your food.

The new system was met with a mixed response on the TikTok video, with one person saying: "This is great, I won't have to socialize anymore," and another adding: "I’m here for it!! When this is local to me then I will try fast food again."

Some viewers aired their concerns about the trial: "This will put so many people out of work, I'm not for it," said one person, with another supporting the point: "That’s sad it’s taking jobs away from people."

Who knows, maybe we might even see a working ice cream machine too!

Featured image credit: Ian Dagnall / Alamy

A customer who tipped their delivery driver with a slice of pizza has sparked a fierce debate on social media.

The incident was captured on a doorbell camera, with the video later being shared on TikTok by user @ringdoorbell.compilation on July 19. The short clip appears to show the moment a pizza delivery driver was offered a slice of the order, rather than a more conventional cash tip.

In the video, the Pizza Hut delivery driver can be seen putting down the box and ringing the door. It's then that he notices a bizarre instruction pinned to the front door.

A caption accompanying the footage revealed that it read: "No money for tip, please take slice of pizza."

Clearly upset, the delivery driver says: "You kidding me?" before taking a slice of pizza from the box and eating it as instructed.

It is unknown when the original footage was recorded, but the delivery driver can be seen wearing a facemask in the video.

And the video did not go unnoticed on TikTok, and at the time of writing, it has been viewed more than 450,000 times.

Reacting to the video, one TikTok user wrote: "He works at a pizza place. He eats it constantly."

A second wrote: "No tip... then don't order."

This was echoed by another TikTok user who wrote: "If you can't afford the tip then you can't afford the food [...] simple."

"You should always tip if they are delivering. You don't have to but [it's] respectful just like tipping at a restaurant," added one user.

Another TikToker added: "I deliver pizzas and I would be pretty annoyed. We eat free already and that's gas I just wasted for nothing."

However, while some thought the tip was unacceptable, this TikTok user saw it in a completely different way.

They wrote: "He's probably at the end of his day and was like honestly best tip lol."

Meanwhile, this TikTok user argued that it should be the pizza company's responsibility to pay their drivers well and the onus shouldn't be on the customer.

They wrote: "It shouldn't be up to customers to pay other people's salary."

Another TikTok user agreed, writing: "[It's] not my responsibility to pay employees. I'm not a business owner these restaurants need to pay their employees better [sic]."

So, do you always tip your delivery drivers? Let us know in the comments.

Featured image credit: Alamy / Vladislav Nosick

You don't really know it at the time, but there's nothing like those days of early childhood. I have some pretty vivid memories of many a Friday evening, when I'd be playing with my brother or my friends and the doorbell would ring. But instead of my dad or one of my friends' parents, I got the very pleasant surprise of having pizza for dinner!

30 very short minutes later, we'd be left with full stomachs, satisfied smiles, and an empty pizza box, save for a little white, plastic table. Being the creative person that I am, I immediately gave the little piece of plastic to my sister, and she'd use it as a little table for her dollhouse. Okay, fine, I don't have a sister; it was my dollhouse, but the point still stands.

Fast forward to present day and my Barbie collection is a well-kept secret (or at least it was), but I still have no idea what those little plastic tables you get with pizza are for. And it's not just something you get at a specific pizza joint, either; regardless of whether you go to Pizza Hut, Dominos or Papa John's, you get that little table with each order.

What a conundrum.

But here at Food Envy, we're all about finding out more about the food around us, and I thought it would be a good idea to find out exactly why your delivery pizza comes with that tiny table. It's a tale that starts more than 30 years ago, and its main protagonist is a woman by the name of Carmela Vitale.

Back on February 10 of the year 1983, Vitale put through a patent for what came to be officially known as a pizza saver. Also described as a 'pizza table', 'pizza Ottoman' or (more infrequently) a 'pizza nipple', this little invention would soon revolutionise history for years to come. But how?

Let's, for a moment, imagine we're a delicious pepperoni pizza, on our way to being delivered to one very happy household. But from the moment you leave the restaurant in a delivery guy's bike or car, you're going to find yourself tossed with every turn in that harsh box.

Not to mention, as steam emanates from that hot pizza, the cardboard box begins to sag. That results in melted cheese meeting cardboard, meaning you'd get so much cheese stuck to the ceiling of the box. I don't know about you, but that's not a world I'd be willing to live in. But luckily, thanks to that little pizza table, you won't have to.

In her patent for the "package saver" (lame name, I know), Vitale spoke passionately about the pizza box's tendency "to sag or to be easily depressed", and that "a lightweight and inexpensive device" was necessary to ensure that many other pizza lovers would not suffer the same tragedy that she did.

So the next time you order a delivery pizza, and it comes not only hot but in perfect condition, thank your lucky stars that Carmela Vitale suffered before you, and that she decided to do something about it.

One thing fast food aficionados have had to look out for, but especially recently in this social media age, is the idea of brand loyalty. Look, friends and food lovers; we all love french fries, burgers and pizza, so why should it matter where it comes from?

But no: today, you're either McDonald's or Burger King, KFC or Chick-Fil-A, Dairy Queen or Baskin-Robbins. I'm sick of it, I tells ya, which is why I'm pleasantly surprised to hear about Domino's Pizza and their latest app feature.

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Of course, it's nothing new for food brands to come with their own mobile app, and it's not even new for them to do anything useful. But when it comes to neat features, Domino's new app is... something else, folks. If you play your cards right, you might be able to score yourself free pizza by ordering from their competitors.

That doesn't sound right, I know, but bear with me a sec. Thanks to new technology from what is now the biggest pizza joint in the world, Domino's will allow you to pick up 'pizza points' that can add up to a completely free pizza from their store, and guess how you pick up those points?

By scanning a pizza into their app. But here's the good bit: it doesn't have to be a pizza from their store, it can be from anywhere! Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Little Caesars, even homemade pizza works; just scan that bad boy in, and get up to 10 points a week. Get yourself 60 points, and you're eligible for a completely free pizza!

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The app uses fancy AI technology to effectively identify what is and isn't a pizza (so don't try to fool it with drawings of pizza, wise guy), and Dennis Maloney, Domino's chief digital officer, said it was "the first time Domino's is using AI technology like this."

But what's the big idea behind such a giveaway? For that answer, we'll have to go to Kate Trumbull, who's the VP of Advertising at Domino's, who says that the revolutionary giveaway is actually a left-field attempt to ensure brand loyalty in the future.

"We know consumers are incredibly promiscuous. They shop around, they eat all kinds of different pizza and that's OK, right? They love pizza, we love pizza, we love all different kinds of pizza. It gives people an opportunity to engage with our brand with no risk and our goal is to keep them and earn their loyalty. We kept the definition broad, and we landed on an open-faced expression of sauce, cheese and crust. "

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Trumbull's also behind the loyalty program that debuted back in 2015, and it's the very same program you'd have to sign up with to get yourself some free pizza. But hurry, folks! This promotion won't last forever, folks, so whip out that Domino's app and get yourself some free pizza!