If you haven’t already heard, robots are taking over the world — serving you dinner for a start. I’m referring, of course, to the events last week, when a local company announced that it was spending a “seven-digit-sum” on unmanned aerial vehicles (or drones) in what seems to be a bid to resolve one of a few long-standing problems in the service industry: Efficiency.

Drinks and dishes are placed on trays attached to these drones, which are able to carry up to 700g. They zip across the room to a docking station where waiters take the food and drinks and serve them to customers. The company said the drones are expected to improve productivity by about 25 per cent as they would replace the need for staff to shuttle between the kitchen and dining areas.

Sure, for all intents and purposes, this is still a work in progress, but what might alarm some people is that we may have already decided it’s inevitable. I don’t disagree that life is a lot easier now that things such as a hot meal and post-dinner entertainment are only a touchscreen away. But has a growing dependence on technology for answers given us the perfect excuse to ignore fundamentally human flaws?

I can see how a robot butler that prefers tweets over cash for tips may appeal to the savvy but cash-strapped traveller visiting Cupertino’s Aloft Hotel in California. Thing is, issues of bad service have been the bane of the food-and-beverage industry for a long time, ever since eating became dining — which was not too long after humans stopped throwing stones at their dinner, discovered trade and began devouring the pleasures of being served. But our obsession with service seems to have led some of us to believe quicker is always better.

Yes, robots can be more efficient, if manufacturing-plant assembly lines are anything to go by. But efficiency in the service industry is a bit trickier, given those human variables that are invariably at play. That’s not to say the above-mentioned drones don’t look impressive and have not been designed with good intentions. Nevertheless, there are people who can’t help but ask certain questions, such as: How does having a flying tray that staff could have carried with relative ease increase productivity? While it’s true that its developers, Singapore-based Infinium Robotics, have planned to increase the drones’ load capacity to 2kg, at best, that means it can carry only a couple of mains at one go. The key thing is that waiters still have to bring the food from the drone to you at your table. And do these waiters (excuse the pun) wait at these docking stations or at your table? (#awkward.)

Hopefully, the novelty hasn’t blinded us from the fact that Murphy’s Law exists and things may not always go as planned. As some people have commented online: What if — touch wood — something spills? Having someone clean up after a spilt cocktail is easy enough and not that big of an issue. Worst-case scenario: The waiter apologises profusely and whole-heartedly — and the restaurant pays for the dry-cleaning. But what kind of insurance would an establishment need to safeguard against potential lawsuits that can happen — again, heaven forbid — if hot soup or beer bottles come crashing down from above the customers? (Okay, it’s not something I think about before I go to bed each night, but am I the only one who finds reports such as a recent one in The Guardian about a South Korean woman’s hair being “eaten” by her robot vacuum cleaner a tad unnerving?)

The customer may not always be right, but we also need to remember that the secret to good and efficient service lies in our desire to recognise this dying art — that being a good server requires more than only an ability to balance and serve a tray full of food. It’s about human interaction and communication and, like a warm smile, attentive yet unobtrusive service doesn’t cost millions of dollars. In fact, it’s not something that can be bought.

That said, a fellow diner eloquently pointed out a redeeming quality of drone service: If we can’t find good staff, wouldn’t we rather be served by drones than deal with bad service and attitude?