The Parts of Customer Service That Should Never Be Automated In Pixar’s WALL-E , oversized humans recline on levitating barcaloungers and are dressed, primped, polished, and served, entirely by robots. Fiction? Maybe not, at least according to a wave of media coverage pointing to a dizzying array of service innovations on the horizon. Look no further than the public debut of Amazon Go, the company’s first cashierless store . Digital imaging technology monitors which items shoppers select from shelves, and when a customer leaves the store, the person’s online account is automatically charged. Down the road in Santa Clara, California, room service robots are being designed that can navigate a hotel’s floor plan and interact digitally with its elevator and phone systems to deliver towels and beverages to guests. Various Silicon Valley startups have deployed robots that make pizzas , craft salads , and assemble artistic bistro sandwiches . In Boston, a robot works with labor ...