"Instead it just gave a general location, for example, 'cheese is in the fridges', which was not very helpful."
"所以它只能给出大致方向,比如,'奶酪在冰箱里',这种回答没有太大帮助."
However when Franco Margiotta, who built the business from scratch, told the little robot they would not be renewing his contract, Fabio asked: "Are you angry?" and some staff were reduced to tears when he was packed away and shipped back to Heriot-Watt.
但是,当白手起家的弗兰科告诉这个小机器人,他们将不再和它续签合同时,法比奥问："你们生气了吗？"当法比奥被打包带走,运回赫瑞瓦特大学时,还有一些员工流下了眼泪.
Dr Oliver Lemon, director of the Interaction Lab at Heriot-Watt, admits he was surprised by the reaction his invention got.
赫瑞瓦特大学互动实验室的主任奥利弗•雷蒙博士承认,他对于自己的发明取得的反应感到吃惊.
"One of things we didn't expect was the people working in the shop became quite attached to it.
"我们没有料到的一件事是店员们对机器人产生了感情."
"When we had to pack it up and put it back in the box one of them started crying.
"当我们不得不把机器人打包放进盒子里时,有一个店员还哭了起来."
"It was good in a way, because we thought the opposite would happen and they would feel threatened by it because it was competing for their job.
"这在某种程度上是好事,因为我们原以为结果会正相反,他们会因为机器人抢夺自己的工作而感到受威胁."
"In actual fact they thought it was an enhancement because it was able to deal with frequent and boring requests, like customers constantly asking where things are, which I think they found quite helpful."
"事实上,他们认为机器人是有益的,因为机器人能帮忙处理频繁乏味的请求,比如顾客会不停地问东西放在哪里,我想在这方面店员认为机器人还是相当给力的."
Asked whether robots could one day replace shop workers, Luisa Margiotta was sceptical.
在被问及机器人有一天是否会取代店员时,路易莎表示怀疑.
She added: "We find our customers love a personal interaction and speaking to our staff is a big part of that.
她补充说："我发现我们的顾客喜欢人与人之间的互动,和我们的职员交谈是很重要的一部分互动."
"Our staff members know our regulars very well and can have conversations on a daily basis, and I doubt robots would be able to fulfil this.
"我们的职员和我们店的常客非常熟,每天都会聊一聊,我怀疑机器人能否胜任这一工作."
"It is possible, I believe, that robots could assist with roles such as warehouse-based tasks, but I doubt they will ever eliminate the need for human interaction.
"我相信,机器人也许能够辅助完成仓库里的任务,但是我怀疑它们能消除人类互动的需求."
"I am confident there will be plenty of retail jobs available for people as and when they need them in the future."
"我相信未来只要有人需要,还会有很多零售业职位向人类开放."
英文来源：每日电讯报
