For the human waiter, I happily tipped 20%, but on the other occasions I hesitated. The rules of tipping go out the window when robots stick out their digital palms, and it’s often unclear who keeps the money.
But is this the new normal, or just a passing robot fever dream? The answer may hinge on what you decide to do with your wallet.
Representatives for The Tipsy Robot and Artly Coffee say their human staff split all the tips and the companies get nothing. Artly has even turned off tip-prompts since I visited. Yet these may be exceptions. In fact, some experts tell me robo-tipping may be part of a broader effort to squeeze more out of workers and customers alike.
“We have every reason to believe that some unscrupulous employers are taking the robot tips for themselves,” says Holona Ochs, an associate professor of political science a
