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John C. Morley: (00:09)
Hi everyone. I'm John C. Morley, the host of the JMOR Tech Talk Show and Inspirations for Your Life.
John C. Morley: (01:02)
Hi everyone, it is John C Morley here, Serial entrepreneur, and welcome to another great episode of the JMOR Tech Talk Show. I can't believe it. Friends, we are on the last Friday of August. That means the next time you see me; will be in September, specifically, September 2. I mean, that's pretty cool. And then we're into, of course, the special weekend. I should say we're on the special weekend when people are trying to get back to school and stuff like that. And what do we call that time? Well, when summer starts, we have two times that important Memorial Day, right? And we have Labour Day, when everybody gets ready to go back to school when things get back to a different mode, which is out of vacation mode. So we have a lot to share with you on this episode of the JMOR TECH TALK SHOW.
John C. Morley: (02:03)
I know you're going to appreciate that. So, the first thing I want to share with you is we've had a lot of talk about this, but Google has started labeling medical facilities that provide abortions to reduce confusion. Now, this is interesting that Google is starting to perform, you know, labeling for the abortion designation. And so, why did this happen? I think it's because a lot of ladies looking for help in this area are getting confused with just clinics, and then they get there, and then they get bad mouth and all this other stuff. So, Google said not too long ago, and in prominently labeling healthcare facilities that offer abortion services in its search and maps products to help fusion for women looking up nearby clinics that perform the procedure. Close quote. So this is pretty interesting.
John C. Morley: (03:10)
And now another part of a quote, the move follows pressure from Democratic lawmakers to rethink its abortion-related search results in the wake of Roe versus Wade's demise. Close quote. So interesting that they're doing this, and I think it's going to reshape the whole debacle of, you know, where things are going with abortion. I'm not here to speak on that one way or another, but I do want to let you know that the fact that they're getting Google to make this change is very big. We all know that when Google does something, everyone else seems to follow, even if they don't want to; it just seems like they do follow. And we'll just have to keep an eye and see what, you know, what is that going to mean for us? What will it mean for Google and all the other great things out there?
John C. Morley: (04:05)
And you know, when we think about, you know, Google and what they're doing, we don't always think about things from a political person; you know, this is getting very political, gentlemen; I have to share this with you. And as much as Google wants to stay out of that political limelight, I don't think they will be able to avoid it. Maybe they can hide searches on their web pages, but the true stories will appear on Bing and other search engines, right? All right, so something else important is we know Amazon's been trying to go for everything. Like they're trying to be everything to everyone. And that's a huge problem. I mean, a huge problem. So think about that for a second and what that means. What does that mean to you? And I know it sounds interesting. What that means to you, I guess, is the question that I want to ask. What does that mean to you?
John C. Morley: (05:40)
Think about that just for a moment.
John C. Morley: (05:53)
I know it sounds a little bit challenging, but in the truth of everything, it's not challenging. Why? Well, I believe it's not challenging because, you see, Amazon tries to get its hands in every little thing it can. I mean, everything they can, they just keep trying left and right. But at the end of the day, Amazon is just trying to get more power. And Amazon had been very vigilant in wanting to get into the medical space. I mean, they were like going after every one to get into the medical space. But you know what's happening now, ladies and gentlemen? Amazon, yes, Amazon is doing something very interesting. They're shutting down. What are they shutting down? Wait, I'm going to tell you Amazon is shutting down its telehealth service. Now that sounds pretty crazy. Why would they do this? Well, they announced earlier this week, and I quote, that it's shutting down its telehealth service, Amazon care, as they called it, as the company rethinks its approach for expanding into the healthcare industry. Close quote. So maybe they realize that more things could implicate them into some problems, or maybe they are not sure this is the right way to go. Maybe that's the whole issue.
John C. Morley: (07:57)
I'm not sure. But I know they're pulling back because they're investigating other areas. And Amazon said, and I quote, it had agreed to acquire one medical in an all-cash deal valued at approximately 3.9 billion. The membership base primary care services promise customers 24/7 access to virtual care and operate in dozens of major US markets like Amazon Care. One Medical works with companies to offer health benefits to their employees. Something went wrong. We don't exactly know what, but we know something happened for Amazon to pull out. But I don't think they're giving up quite yet. I think they're trying to discover their place, where they belong, or maybe where they don't belong. I honestly don't think they belong in the health space. That's kind of like going to your local store that sells, let's say, groceries and saying, Hey, while I'm here can I pick up some lumber and some siding from my house?
John C. Morley: (09:44)
No. Now they might have people there trying to rep out those services, but they don't directly sell them in the store, but they are wrapping them out like Costco, BJ's, I mean, they're doing things like air conditioning. So I guess it's not totally off base, but I feel that when the company is getting too involved, like in a health matter, that's a problem. We already know what challenges we have with Amazon when you call them and how they say they're sorry about this one, and they really can't do much. Their hands are tied. It's a call center, and all they can do is appease you to death, which I think is terrible. I think they need to stay out of the medical field. I mean, stay out of the medical field, and I hope they stay out of it.
John C. Morley: (10:31)
I hope that the federal government says that, hey, they've got too much of a monopoly, and they don't deserve or should ever be given any kind of leniency to enter any kind of benefit or tax benefit or anything to go into the medical industry. I just don't believe the way Amazon treats its employees. And I'm not going to go down that road tonight. We've seen that several people have died. I mean, just not too long ago, a gentleman was on the floor for almost 45 minutes before somebody called for help. I mean, that's pretty bad.
John C. Morley: (11:10)
All right. So lots of things are happening with Amazon and different providers. But here's something very interesting, ladies and gentlemen. A new type of art, an interactive art piece called Infra-tonal, explores the connection between humans and AI or artificial intelligence. Now, this new artist is hoping to explore the potential bias of algorithms and how they can be optimized for efficiency over the well-being of humans. He's trying to create an artwork that can be expressed by people's movements, sounds, and maybe even the electrical stimulus from their brains. They're not there yet, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they went there. And it causes a generator to create things on a screen.
John C. Morley: (12:22)
Now, when we think about art, art is usually something that's drawn. It could be abstract, right? But Infra-tonal is an artistic project led by Luke Amadou Parisian multidisciplinary artist who works at the intersection of digital arts, electronic music, and interaction design. And after studying visual arts, computer graphics, and digital communication, he founded a social media agency. Before launching a production structure for digital art and interactive experiences, he worked as a new media expert. Is this going to be a breath of fresh air? It's going to have, I should say, a very core purpose, but it's also going to be different each time because every person is different, allowing it to create art based on people's personalities and how they interact. We remember many years ago when the first speaker came out, and it had all kinds of patterns that would follow the pitch, the tone, and the frequency of the music, including the beat. And this became interesting. But I think this is like touching that level much deeper. So, an interactive art piece Infra-tonal is making a difference today. I mean, did you ever think something like this would be around? Did you think that anything like this would ever exist?
John C. Morley: (14:30)
That might be a hard question to answer, but I think that's pretty cool because they're doing stuff and changing things. And the fact that we can now use different things, I just think that's so cool.
John C. Morley: (15:12)
The interactive art piece explores the connection between humans and artificial intelligence. I think when we learn what makes each of us different, we're able to appreciate that. And I think what he's doing with creating art is that a person creates it without having to be an artist. So, I think that's a cool thing. So definitely check out, you know, the interactive art piece Infra-tonal because some of the stuff it does is wild. I mean, just having the ability to have a myriad of things that use music, visuals, possibly your hand gestures, I talked about sound, maybe even the electrical impulses from our brain to perform these breath-taking compositions.
John C. Morley: (16:21)
Amdo uses Touch Designer software to create spectacular digital imagery in real-time. So, he's creating the type of art, but the actual characteristic that makes it different from each other will be cool. And you're not going to have to be an artist to know how to create with it. That, I feel, is amazing. So, check that out. Ladies and gentlemen, a lot is evolving, not just art, but so many things are happening in our lives. And if you have been, let's say, a hater of the QR codes, well, I got some news for you. QR codes are here to stay and becoming mainstream. Yes, QR codes, they're here to stay. Instagram recently launched a new feature that you can generate QR codes with Instagram reels simply. You can go to your reel, click on the dot three dots, and share the QR code for people to go to.
John C. Morley: (17:51)
And I think this is amazing. You can make your Instagram QR code part of your business operation scheme. You can promote your QR code on other social media. You can insert your QR code into campaigns such as fundraising, donations, wildlife conservation, and the list goes on and on. The fact that Instagram is now supporting QR codes and making it so easy to turn anything into a QR code, I think that's wild. That is just amazing. And we all know that whatever Instagram does and takes off, it will cause people to latch onto it. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if our friends on Facebook or meta these days also come up with something. I wouldn't be a bit surprised. I would not be a bit surprised if they did that. That's pretty cool, John. That's way cool if you ask me. Think about that for a moment. Let's think about that for a second. And I think you're going to blow your mind knowing that QR codes have always been around, but now they're being embraced more. And I think when social media says, hey, this is what we want to do, the rest of the world wakes up and says, you know what? Yeah, that's the path we want to go on. That's the path we want to go on. That's pretty cool, John. I mean, looking at what's going on is so wild.
John C. Morley: (20:20)
I mean, it is. Understanding where we are makes a huge difference in our lives.
John C. Morley: (20:47)
And being able to come up with a QR code and using that QR code, ladies and gentlemen, to immediately like that, direct you to a video, to an image, that's what makes a difference in life. That's what makes a difference in life. And when you can do that, the world changes. When social media decides to say, Hey, this is what we're following; this is the way we're doing it now. Everyone else wants to jump on board because they know what will be adopted, and people will all want to be a part of this. So QR codes are here; they're on all my business cards. They've been on them for a while, but many people don't know what QR is and don't understand how powerful it is. You all know that you could easily scan my hat and code to my link tree, which is the same as going to www.believemeachieve. But I can't say how many people I bump into, like, Oh, can I scan you? Yeah, sure.
John C. Morley: (22:04)
And it creates a very interesting dynamic that makes people want to engage with you and your content. I've said once before we want to get content in front of people, right? We want to get content in front of people, and we want to attract them, right? We want to engage them, and we want to delight them regularly. Content shouldn't sell. It should get people's curiosity aroused. So, they want to dig deeper or have a conversation that'll get them to learn more and potentially see that you can solve their problem, and then they will want to do business with you. That's the power. Don't use social media to sell; use it to stimulate interest. That's the key. All right. Thinking about everything that's been going on, a lot has been going on, right? And California's been a little bit fed up.
John C. Morley: (23:28)
Well, California clears the way to ban new gas car sales. Where's this coming from? Well, they had it and the California Air Rescue Board voted not to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in the Golden State of California. This full effect or the binding of it won't take effect for a little more than 12 years, which will be in about 2035. And it will require most new cars and trucks sold in California to run exclusively on electricity or hydrogen. The regulation will be phased in gradually, but until then, it includes an exception for plugin hybrids allowing them to make up as much as 20% of new car sales even after 2035.
John C. Morley: (24:32)
Interesting. So, this regulation is being put out because they want to keep their environment green. That's pretty impressive. Will other states do that? You know, I don't know. I don't know if they will or they won't, but California is a big enough state that if it sticks there, other states, I believe, will follow suit. Definitely a great way to preserve our resources in the world. All right? Now you've heard me talk before about robots. This is not new. And I want to share with you something quite interesting, and I call it the good and bad of robots operating in the real world. So the real world, not the metaverses, not this pseudo-reality, the real world. And you know, you've got robots out there now that can deliver food and be as simple as a table with a screen, and it can roll around and deliver the food to the appropriate person.
John C. Morley: (26:08)
They can have screens so they can take payments and things like that. But one of the trickiest parts, and I want to quote the author Brian Heater from Actuator, is setting realistic expectations. The job of writing about robots for a living is a bit of a balancing act between excited optimism and pragmatic realism. Close quote. What he brings to light is that you might see something in a lab or at a university, and you think it's going to be on the street tomorrow or next week, but it's not. There is a big delay factor in the time from R and D to the final prototype to the manufactured robot.
John C. Morley: (27:11)
Robots can do so many things, right? They can carry food around, right? But where else are robots going? So ROI, as he says, is a tricky thing. They have all kinds of pilots and programs to see if this will work. Is it cost-effective? And is it going to satisfy our clients? But he raises another concern, which is important, is to understand the technology and how it can directly address staff shortages plaguing our restaurants today. So, of course, this is a setback, and Chile had agreed to bring these bots to around 60 locations just before the start of Hochman's tenure.
John C. Morley: (28:31)
And it's an interesting fact that they want to do this. That means you will be in a restaurant soon, and a robot might deliver your food. I don't know if they will take your order, but I believe they will deliver your food. So now my question is, if you don't tip the robot, will people tip less money because the robot's delivering the food and not the server? That's a very interesting question. People are very smart and understand where robots can go; some of the society mismatches what it means in things like the medical field, right? There are lots of potential technologies where robots can go, even in the world of office emergency management, making sure an area is safe, maybe the fire department checking to see that there's nobody else that's unconscious or alive in the building so that the officers can get out of the building quickly and those firefighters and not have to risk their life because there's nobody really in the building. So, we've seen many companies out there that have entertained us, thrilled us, and educated us on things that might not have been possible because they create a personal experience. I want to ask you a question. Suppose you were at Chile's, or you were at Applebee's, or you were at some other restaurant; maybe it was your favorite steak restaurant. And imagine you place this order, and five or 10 minutes later, this robotic table rolls out and says you're a portion of food. And it goes to teach a person.
John C. Morley: (31:07)
Maybe they might have a bunch of them, maybe it'll have several trays, and maybe it'll say something like please take your tray on shelf five or something. So I think they're testing the whole concept of running. I also believe that we will see robots be more involved with busing because that's not a human job, right? Robots are being brought into our world to get rid of those mundane tasks that can injure people and cause stress, and other harm, whether physical or mental because a robot just does the same thing repeatedly. It never gets tiring. It never asks, Hey, do you still want me to do that again? Very interesting, right? But just think of a robot-type tray system, which looks like a tiered set of shelves rolling out to you, and then you pick the food. I don't know. There's a company that recently started working on this, and it's called Bear; you may or may not have heard of them before. They're called Bear Robotics.
John C. Morley: (32:56)
So Bear Robotics is designed to offer greater efficiency and a guest experience with the aid of a robot. They call their robot serving. You could elevate the customer experience and combat staffing shortages by serving a low-cost food-running robot and busing solution. So that means you could have the table all bused by somebody, and then Survey will take it back to the kitchen. The Survey is a robot that moves food or plates from one place to another. It's not as robust as these other robots you've seen, but it has a specific purpose. The Survey has the capacity and cares to deliver the heaviest drink orders, making first impressions a breeze. People still have to know which drink is theirs, right?
John C. Morley: (34:15)
I think it has potential. I believe it will disconnect us from the human element of going to a restaurant. So, Survey is a state-of-the-art restaurant service robot that creates exceptional dining experiences; according to Bear Robotics, by eliminating repetitive work for your employees, the restaurant robot allows your service staff to breathe easy, free from the constant back and forth of busing tables, running food and delivering drinks so that you can focus on the most important factor in the food industry establishment the customer. But is that really what it's doing? Is this automation the solution for restaurants? The serving robot is equipped with lidar cameras for nimble and safe navigation. So it won't trip over structures in your restaurants, such as boots, other chairs and tables, and even guests. It allows it to navigate a hectic dining environment without causing a spill or seeing. And thus your service never gets. So, the multi-robot mode allows you to easily sync an entire fleet of Survey robots for faster service as your business grows. So, let's say you go out to dinner, and Survey now delivers, let's say, eight orders or ten orders. So ten robots go to each, each person gets a robot, and the food goes right to them.
John C. Morley: (36:09)
Pretty cool. But are restaurants going to use Survey? That's my question. So, Bear has currently partnered with Chili's, Compass Group, Denny's, Marriot, and Pepsi, and they're here to target restaurant staffing shortages.
John C. Morley: (36:49)
There's a Spice restaurant in Boston that is using robots in their robotic kitchen. We'll talk more about that on other shows. But they've designed robots now that are just the arms to do the maneuvering and to be able to work alongside a human being. So that doesn't need its own space. Like many years ago, you had to have a special retrofitted kitchen. Now you're probably asking me, are there any restaurants that have robots that are waiters? So, a robot named Pearl delivers food at local restaurants in Braden Town, Florida, and at Anna Maria's Oyster Bar and Brandon. And they said business is better than it's ever been before. But a worker shortage was slowing things down. So the owner turned to technology for help. I think it's great to use technology, but I just fear that people might use it as a crutch.
John C. Morley: (38:04)
So you might be saying, how much does one of these robot waiters cost? I know you're probably asking that question. So at a glance, restaurants are looking to save money during the pandemic, right? As we know and kind of hope in a remission state, it caused financial strain in almost every sector of life. And surveying a server robot costs just under a thousand dollars, $999 per month, or $12,000 annually. So, what they're doing is they're offering Survey as a robot as a service. And so the restaurant can use the robot when they need it, not have to buy it forever. So, restaurants can hire a thousand dollars a month robot waiter leading to tip surges, right? But the question you might be saying, John, is the robot restaurant worth it? Well, a robot restaurant is worth the time and money. It's totally unlike anything else you've probably seen. We talked about Survey, one type of restaurant, but let's talk about the robot. It's called Robot Restaurant. All right? So, Robot Restaurant is another type of robot for restaurants. And so when we think about that, let's consider what robot Restaurants can do. So Robot Restaurant is different than what we just talked about, okay? It's different from the robot that moves around, right?
John C. Morley: (40:06)
And so, understanding what Robot Restaurants can do is pretty interesting. Robot Restaurant was shown at the New York restaurant show not too long ago. And so, my question is, how accurate is a robot restaurant, and are people going to feel comfortable ordering with a robot? Well, New York's first robot server is now waiting tables in Staten Island, New York City first robot server waiting tables on Staten Island. You can wink at her, you can smile at her, whatever you'd like to do. And this device, this robot, basically captures the order. So what we're doing is we're taking the concept of a point of sales system, and we're putting it into a robot. So now we're getting the guests and the robot to interact. And so, there isn't that step where the waiter server has to go and key in the information to the POS.
John C. Morley: (41:30)
So that's what's happening with the robot restaurant. And then the fact that it also can serve food is pretty cool, right? You put the food on it, bring it out. But again, are people in our world ready for this? I have to say no. I think I like the idea that a robot should be behind the scenes, and it should help to do the tasks that we don't want humans to do all the time. That's what I think robots are great for. But I think the minute we start saying a robot needs to replace a human being, we're taking ten steps backward. Now, whether the robot can do it or not is one thing. Do we want to be a society constantly doing business with non-human beings? I'd say no. So you might say to me, John, we have ATMs. Yeah, but that's different.
John C. Morley: (42:33)
You go to the ATM, and it has one purpose. You can make a deposit; you can make a withdrawal. That's what it does. It doesn't tie your shoes. It doesn't come here. I'm being facetious here, but when you go to the restaurant, and you ask, you know what's on the menu, and your server could tell you some things. Now the robot could too, but the robot's going to be a lot more limited, of course, when we grow into artificial intelligence and things like that. But it can take the order and put it in; I mean, that's pretty cool. I think the robot is great in the back end to make the products or help with the services, but then have the human beings be the one that finally serves the product. Like maybe in the case of runners, the robots could bring the food up to what I'll call the prep area, okay? Or the after-prep area.
John C. Morley: (43:26)
Then the waiters could take the food from there instead of dealing with the kitchen. There could be a midway point in the restaurant; there might be a couple of those. And then, when the robot is there, it could page them or alert them, and they could go get the order. And I think that would be much more personable. And they could have these waiting areas, maybe three or four at a restaurant, and they would all be behind a wall when no one sees that it's the robot. And then they would; the person would take the food in Hampton. So I think that's what I want to see, you know because when I go to a restaurant, I want to interact with human beings. Ladies and gentlemen, we are at the top of our hour.
John C. Morley: (44:11)
I don't know where our time goes. I had another amazing show with you guys, and I know you did. Listen, if you're looking to become a guest on JMOR TECH TALK SHOW, just go to www.jmor.com, click on reach out at the top right corner to choose to become a guest, and fill out an application. Now, we don't know everyone on the air but make your best pitch. And if we're interested, we'll get back to you by asking you for some more information or setting up a guest pre-interview. After that, if we think you're a great fit, we'll send you a non-disclosure paper you need to sign. Set it back to us with your headshot and some other information, and we'll probably get you on the show in about three to four months.
John C Morley (44:55):
Remember, our show is not about selling. It's about helping people by delivering information that can aid my life, your life, and everyone we care so much about. Ladies and gentlemen, I am John C Morley, Serial Entrepreneur and the JMOR TECH TALK SHOW host. It was amazing being with you this last Friday, Aug 22. Next week is September 2. Are you ready for that? I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. And remember to check out all my other great content at www.believemeachieve.com. That's www.believemeachieve.com , and you'll be prepared for some other great content like science, super motivational business coaching, and everything that has a lesson to improve the quality of your life. Again, thanks for taking the time this Friday night or whenever to watch the show live or the replay because I know you appreciate the content we're bringing you, and we've got some great guests coming up in the next few months, so stay tuned for that. I will see you guys next week, September 2, Friday. Until then, I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the show and the content I put forward, and we'll see you on another JMOR TECH TALK SHOW. So Take care, everyone.