https://www.anthropic.com/research/project-vend-1
It was part of the community. Like the pub. There was no need for it of course as the delivery drones flying over the corner clearly showed. But it kept going. It was a little island, a different sort of place: part shop, part meeting place. Older people would use it to “bump into” people from other streets on the estate. Human contact rather than the robo-carers. Younger teenagers would try to convince the shopkeeper they were over 18. The shopkeeper wasn’t fooled by them just as It hadn’t been fooled by their parents. It had a very good memory.