HSBC is staffing branches with humanoid robots that dance, take selfies and push credit cards

Now that's dystopia.

From CNBC:

• HSBC executives are posting seven of the robots, created by SoftBank Robotics, in the lobby of their Fifth Avenue branch.
• In one demonstration, after pitching a credit card and summoning a human colleague to help close the deal, Pepper the robot danced hypnotically to a techno beat. The robot also poses for selfies and tells jokes.
• If the machines help improve users' experiences, the bank will roll them out to more of its 228 U.S. branches.

Ground zero for the robot takeover of financial services is an HSBC branch in midtown Manhattan.

HSBC Bank welcomes SoftBank Robotics' humanoid robot, Pepper, to their team at the Fifth Ave branch on Monday, June 25, 2018 in New York. 

Here, crowds of camera phone-toting tourists cooed and clapped at Pepper, an adorable 4-foot-tall robot with a high-pitched voice and a tablet screen strapped to its chest, during a recent test run. HSBC executives are posting seven of the machines, created by SoftBank Robotics, in the lobby of their Fifth Avenue branch starting Tuesday to interact with customers and signal that the London-based bank is serious about technology.

“How may I help you?” Pepper asks in a cheerful voice, urging onlookers to select among a half-dozen options, including tutorials on self-service channels like mobile banking and ATMs.

In one demonstration, after pitching a credit card and summoning a human colleague to help close the deal, Pepper helped a user kill time by dancing hypnotically to a techno beat. The robot also poses for selfies and tells jokes....MORE

Pepper, what have they done to you?