Fact Check: Does viral video show a humanoid waitress serving customers at Chinese restaurant?

Hyderabad: A Facebook video reportedly showing a human-like robot providing hospitality to customers at a restaurant has taken the Internet by storm with users speculating that China has replaced humans with humanoid robots at their restaurants.

An Instagram handle also shared the video with the caption, “China now has AI robot waiters.”

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the ‘robot’ in the video is a real woman skilled at serving customers at a Chinese restaurant with robotic movements.

We started our investigation by performing a keyword search and found a YouTube video on a Chinese media outlet South China Morning Post titled, “‘Robot-dancing’ waitress goes viral online” dated October 27, 2023.

According to the report, the video shows Qin, the owner of a hotpot restaurant in Chongqing city, showcasing her ‘robot-dancing’ skills in serving customers in her restaurant. Apart from owning a restaurant, she is also a skilled robotics street dancer. After watching her incredible movements as a robot, her friend shared her video online which took millions of viewers in awe appreciating her talent.

Next, we also found a media report by Business Insider titled ‘A Chinese waitress who pretends to be a humanoid robot is dividing the internet’ answering the speculations of her being a robot. The reports confirmed that the woman seen in the video is not a real robot but a talented restaurant owner and a professional street dancer.

A report by Reuters also confirmed that the robot seen in the video is a performance by a real woman.

Lastly, we also found an interview of the same woman during a dance show which was shared massively on Douyin, China’s most downloaded video-sharing platform.