Robots Now Want Tips for Not Making Eye Contact

At Newark Liberty International Airport, customers buying a bottle of water from an unstaffed kiosk have been presented with a suggested tip. There is no cashier, waiter or visibly thirsty colleague in need of encouragement. Just a self-checkout machine, a bottle and the familiar electronic invitation to demonstrate that you are not a monster.

The prompt is part of a broader development in the service industry: robots are making cocktails, preparing coffee and delivering meals, and some of the systems involved are now asking customers for extra money. Humanity has successfully automated the awkward social interaction of service while preserving the awkward screen at the end.

The trend was reported on 19 August 2026 and raises a fairly basic question: when a robot asks for a tip, who actually gets it? A machine does not need bus fare home, although it may presumably have strong feelings about electricity.

At The Tipsy Robot bar inside the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, two robotic arms prepare automated cocktails. A margarita costs $17, and customers are also asked to pay a 10% service fee. Strictly speaking, that is a service fee rather than an optional tip, but it still leaves the customer paying extra after watching machinery perform the job without so much as making eye contact.

The same peculiar etiquette has appeared in New York. At Artly Coffee, a robotic barista prompted customers for tips. The machine makes the coffee and then, with admirable efficiency, proceeds directly to the part where everyone looks at a touchscreen and quietly reassesses the nature of generosity.

In Portland, Oregon, Top Burmese uses a robot to deliver meals to tables. Human workers still take customers’ orders, meaning the restaurant has not removed people from the process altogether. Instead, the duties have been divided: humans handle the conversation, while the robot carries the food.

These examples do not establish where every gratuity or service charge ultimately goes, and no definitive answer was given about how the money is distributed. The robot itself is not being handed a few notes at the end of its shift, nor is it known to be saving for a holiday.

What is clear is that automated service is spreading, and payment systems are bringing tipping prompts along with it. Customers can therefore expect the question to keep appearing as more machines enter bars, cafés, restaurants and kiosks. The future has arrived, made a margarita and turned the screen around.