Just don't ask them for a physical

The way things are going in Japan, receptionists might eventually become entirely obsolete. The human ones, anyway.

(Credit: Live Gear)

About 124 miles north of Tokyo, Aizu Central Hospital is employing the country's first front-desk robots. A mechanical receptionist mans the desk and answers questions while two porter-bots handle luggage and escort patients to the proper areas at a speed of up to 1 mph, according to Gear Live.

While we've had our share of problems with the service industry, we're not sure this is the best idea. It's one thing to replace surly hotel clerks with bots or droids, but hospital workers? Let's just hope they don't station them in the emergency room any time soon.