In a Longjing tea garden located in Hangzhou, an intelligent tea-picking robot infused with AI technology is spotted helping with the tea harvest on March 26, 2024. /CFP

Every spring, workers are commonly seen busy handpicking the most tender spouts from tea trees in the gardens of Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province, but a shift has been spotted this year: robots are helping to harvest tea.

Developed by Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, tea-picking robots infused with AI technology joined the workforce to help with the laborious work. And the results are astonishing!

A tea-picking robot works in a tea garden in Hangzhou on March 26, 2024. /CFP

A photo taken on March 26, 2024 shows a robotic arm that can identify the most tender spouts from tea trees, and pick them up without damaging the tree. /CFP

Tea leaves picked by the robot (left) verses those handpicked by workers (right). /CFP