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Japanese Hotel Lays Off Robots Because They Added To Humans' Workload

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm David Greene, and I am not a robot. NPR is not going the way of a Japanese hotel that began replacing people with robots. The trouble was, they weren't really doing their jobs. The concierge robot couldn't answer basic questions about places to visit. Bellhop robots were running into each other in hallways. The website The Verge reports more than a hundred robots were laid off because they were adding to the workload of the humans they were meant to be replacing. You're listening to MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.