Lotte Hotel Workers Record Tasks for AI Robot Training

In Seoul, a skilled banquet worker at the five-star Lotte Hotel methodically folded napkins and polished silverware while wearing body cameras on his head, chest, and hands, feeding precise motion data into a database designed to train artificial intelligence for robots.

David Park, who has performed the task thousands of times over nine years, is one of about 10 Lotte Hotel food and beverage staff contributing to the effort by South Korean AI startup RLWRLD. The company partners with firms like logistics giant CJ, where workers' handling of warehouse goods is recorded, and Japan's Lawson convenience store chain, capturing food display techniques. The data aims to create an AI software layer enabling robots to perform dexterous tasks in factories, warehouses, and eventually homes.

RLWRLD's work highlights South Korea's push into physical AI, which equips machines with sensors and algorithms to perceive, decide, and act autonomously in real-world settings, surpassing repetitive factory automation. Engineers prioritize replicating human hand dexterity for humanoid robots, a focus shared by competitors worldwide. "The cameras on his hands felt too tight," Park noted lightly to an...