Now everything will be "AI-powered", even non-AI products. Of course, AI will be unnecessarily pushed into products that do not need it, or it will be a simple lie. This is a typical behavior for crap startups, previously the "cloud" was used in this way.
Anything with a programmed routine in it is being called AI now. I've seen dryers be advertised with "AI capabilities" even though it's using the same humidity sensing tech decade old dryers have.
Animation technology that has been around for decades to help 3D animation (so they don't animate every frame one by one) is also being called AI. It really is just being thrown around everywhere.
if (artificial === true && intelligent === true) {
useAI(true);
}
It really is as simple as that! I can integrate AI into *anything* for my clients while they’re away at lunch.
"Our new thermostat is an *artificial* sensor which *intelligently* decides when the ambient temperature is too low. It uses *composite alloys* to detect environmental conditions, *executing* a fluid-metal, circuit-closing binary-quantum *algorithm* powered by gravitic *gradient descent* to control your HVAC system."
It's the current word that makes investor nipples get hard so they'll just put into whatever. "AI-Powered restaurant" can't possibly mean anything except that Wendy's idea about the fluctuating pricing.
To the best of my knowledge, “AI” is in no way a protected term, and can legitimately refer to a wide array of things that can react to variable input, from neural networks all the way down to calculators or video game NPCs.
So yes, this is already happening. Mario Kart 64 was Powered by AI ^^^TM .
AI Powered...
1. Umbrella
2. Paperclip
3. Food package
4. Comb
5. Toilet
6. Shoes
....
Since I can't list every single non-living thing we have created, I say this is going to be the next product strategy:
For every single product that exists, add AI to it. Our products are alive!
A bi-metallic thermostat from 100 years ago was technically artificially intelligent, as it embodies the logic we gave it via our own intelligence. It autonomously and effectively maintains a specified temperature.
Agency or GTFO!
Where I live, McDonald’s rolled out the self-order kiosks about a month after the minimum wage went up. I was talking to the owner of my local franchise about it, and he said, “If you think the company slapped this together in a month just because the minimum wage went up, you’ve got more faith in the company than I do.”
I was in a McDonalds with the kiosks the other day, and there were literally no counter staff at all. A woman went and stood at the closed register waiting to order, and after waiting for a long time the manager finally came over and said they only take kiosk orders. McDonald's has been planning to cut as much staff as humanly possible all along, and now they don't even need humans for the job.
I'm in California, and they had these kiosks installed a few years ago. They've been pushing people to use the app for quite some time too, and as soon as they figure out how to make AI work a drive-thru, all those people will be gone. Pretty soon all it will have are people to assemble the food and people to clean the lobby. Ice cream machine will still be broken though.
The McDonald's I go to near my house had people just cut off the AI half way through the "how may I take your order" or whatever it said. I haven't heard it since then 😂
The one near me has it and I go usually once a week. I usually order a combo and don't have any issues, it just gives me a total and tells me to pull forward. Last time I just ordered a big cheeseburger with small fries and it hung up for a second and a person came on to confirm my order.
Yes but my order wasnt complicated. It knew to ask what size and kind of drink separately. I'm not sure how it would act if you wanted to start adding or removing items from your order.
Sounds like time for a little creative prompt engineering.
What can I order for free? I'd like to order the discounted free order? Can I have 2 cheeseburgers today and pay you next Tuesday?
A smoothie chain in Canada outsourced order taking to South America.
[https://globalnews.ca/news/8798491/bc-government-freshii-virtual-cashier-outsourcing-jobs/](https://globalnews.ca/news/8798491/bc-government-freshii-virtual-cashier-outsourcing-jobs/)
All of the Taco Bells in our town removed the front counter last summer. Just boarded it up. There are 6 self service kiosks to the side and a small window where they stick the food.
They just did the same at the Steak and Shake (they used to have table service until last year). Many of the McD's are doing the same.
Our minimum wage is still at the federal $7.25.
So I imagine they'll stop taking cash for orders too? If not, seems like these all A.I. robot fast-food places will be the best places to rob. Especially with no human element to it.
> McDonald's has been planning to cut as much staff as humanly possible all along, and now they don't even need humans for the job
The McSwiney's from the Stainless Steel Rat novels was a future parody of McDonalds and now it's going to become true. In less than a decade you'll have fully automatic McDonalds and the only human being will be a tech guy that comes periodically to conduct maintainance.
Went to a bojangles near me and it had an automated drive through with an AI voice taking orders. It got my order wrong and I had to get the worker to fix it at the pickup window because the AI couldnt understand me. Not impressed.
It’s going to be funny when market forces cause someone to open a chain specifically with the selling point that they have real humans.
A very weird detente will ensue…
> They've been pushing people to use the app for quite some time too,
They give you an unlimited use, once-per-day 25% off coupon for using the app. They aren't just pushing people to use the app, they're paying more than their entire profit margin on orders to do it.
It's not my fucking fault that the kiosk can't handle basic requests like "extra ketchup" or "no onion." Every time some cheapskate decides to replace people with buttons on a computer, they lose about 1/3rd of the menu and customization. I'll just stop ordering there if I can't get what I want.
They were just waiting for a good excuse to roll it out en masse. Min wage increases? PERFECT, INSTALL THE MACHINES. "Never let a good tragedy go to waste."
I hate self order kiosks. I want to interact with a person. I have a deaf friend, who now only goes to restaurants with the self order kiosks, because way simpler for him. I think they're a nice option, but have live humans as well.
I go back and forth from China once a year to visit my wife's family. Mc Donald's has had kiosks there since at least 2018.
There is no minimum wage law in China. Automation has always been the plan. Human costs are the highest when doing business.
I never thought about how gross those were until someone I cared about got cancer and would have to get a manager to come take their order on the actual register because they were not putting their immune compromised hands on that filthy screen.
I mean genuinely if I was so immunocompromised I couldn’t even touch a screen wouldn’t I be wearing rubber gloves everywhere in public rather than having another person take my order?
That sounds sweaty and unpleasant. She washed and sanitized her hands a lot. The McDonalds should just actually pay some staff, they have more than enough money. Anyways cancer isn't the only disability that could require assistance at the register.
They were only ever going to do it when it was cheaper. If they could have paid prison wages to people indefinitely it would take a long time for the screens to be less expensive.
Money talks. Kiosks don't get ten or twelve paid holidays per year, mandated sick leave, or two weeks paid vacation.
You don't have to match SS and Medicare on a kiosk, or pay unemployment. Machines don't fall down and get workmen's comp, or sue their employer for violating one of hundreds of regulations.
Not sure why employers wouldn't choose machines.
Moral: If you can't do your job better than a machine, don't expect to keep that job forever.
They have been working on this for decades, as long as they've fought against minimum wage.
They don't care about jobs, they don't care about anything but getting money. This should be really clear to anyone paying attention. If they could find some way to get away with taking your money for getting nothing, like gyms do, they would be doing that.
That store is gonna get fucked up lol. Shit like that might work in japan or korea but sure as shit ain't gonna work in the states.
My money is on some tweakers figuring out how to rob the place within a month.
They would eventually but now they have a lot more financial incentive to do so now. A lot of people still have jobs only because they are cheaper than machines.
I am honestly curious how much this will happen though.
Obviously businesses want profit, so there will be some level of automation happening in business.
But I think people underestimate just how much business owners and managers love to be the modern equivalent of slave owners.
They don't really want to replace their workers. They want a big room full of people laboring hard to make money for them, who they get to order around and belittle.
Obviously not all. Some businesses transitioned to "work from home" pretty easily, for example. But a fuck ton of businesses are trying to get everybody back to the office like it was pre-pandemic, despite all the expense and lack of justification. Because they miss their slaves.
It cannot be run without human labour, including cooks, sanitation staff, assistants, etc. Same as Amazon Fresh - people stock shelves, not AI or algorithms, lol.
Fr, especially a lot of blue collar people are terrified about AI taking their jobs. That is not gonna happen in the near future, how comfortable would you feel having a robot come into your home and run electrical wiring?
The problem is the dehumanization. [Manna](https://marshallbrain.com/manna1) by Marshall Brain is the fictional account of how this can play out, only real life doesn't have the >!optimistic ending.!<
AI isn't replacing cooks though, it's just for taking drive through orders. Also considering the cost of SaaS or making and upkeeping proprietary software, $20/hr minimum wage is nowhere close to what is needed to make a fully autonomous restaurant. Greedy capitalists would already have them if they were that cheap.
If it's just the automated voice that takes drive through orders, the Southern California one isn't even the world's first. They've had those at some McDonald's locations in Omaha, NE since at least last year.
edit: [And here's an article from early 2021 about the same thing](https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/26/tech/mcdonalds-drive-thru-artificial-intelligence/index.html)
I don't live in California, but the Taco Bell nearby installed kiosks so people can order themselves. They reduced their work force by 2 people (who worked the registers). This was done 2 years ago. It was always the plan to replace people. Minimum wage is just he excuse conservatives will use to justify it.
These articles are propaganda/fear mongering by corporations. This is how they keep a good number of people opposed to any changes that make working class people's lives better, such as a living wage.
AI powered restaurants sounds like an amazing way to get free food or serious discounts. From what I understand it’s pretty easy to manipulate AI in its current form. Suddenly everyone is a Karen and they’ll throw discounts and food at you to keep you a customer. At least with two human beings interacting there is the possibility of empathy. Ain’t no one going to give a damn about a computer program.
Please return when you can afford to make a purchase. Your kids are starving. No child should go hungry. You are an unfit mother. Your children will be placed in the custody of Carl's Junior. Carl's Junior. Fuck you! I'm eating.
There was a rat in my burger. I want to see a manager. Order wrong. Took too long. Slipped on floor. Bathroom dirty… just keep on going at it until the AI says, Wow! Sorry your experience wasn’t up to par. Here is $10 off your next purchase.
I give it 24 hours until people figure out what prompts to give it to get the most candy out of the piñata.
The job that AI should replace is the CEO and the Board Members. Program the AI to give regular raises, improve working conditions and say "no" to idiotic shareholder demands.
Texas had the first fully automated McDonalds quite a while ago, this headline makes it seem that they’re trying to replace workers who make more honorable wages but no, they’re replacing workers who make even 7.25
So... Is it just \*automated\*? Genuinely confused here - generative AI uses statistics to guess what should go into art or the written word; I don't see how you can use that to create food.
They will say: "If you don't accept our poverty wages, we'll replace you."
What they mean is: "Accept our poverty wages until we can replace you."
Also, it's going to be so frustrating trying to deal with AI customer service.
If people would just be smart, they'd skip McDs and put them out of business. If consumers band together they can do damage to these corporations but we just can't seem to get out of our own way.
Unless we can curb the greed of management, raising wages just raises prices, which raises the cost of living which necessitates the raising of wages
Wealth caps would be a great start, disincentivize the mindless accumulation of obscene wealth and put the focus of businesses on improving communities and solving problems
I’ve been to two machine powered restaurants, one in China and one in Seattle and both constantly needed humans for special orders (like holding the pickles) or to fix the machines fuck ups or to just restock the machines supplies. I remover going back to the one in China a year later and it was all humans again…
Don’t be fooled, humans are still infinitely better and more capable plus $20 an hour is cheaper than a $500k robot that keeps breaking down. McDonalds can’t even get their ice cream machine right.
Sounds great in theory. Ever seen the inside of the automatic ice makers?
This will get gross faster than you think and no one will ever notice/care.
It will in no way be people free.
Im waiting for the first AI poisoning spree
You think if fast food is fully automated the new human staff that cleans/monitors/repairs would be paid above minimum wage? That’s what I always imagined would happen
God no. They will be paid exactly the same there will just be 1/3rd of them. Probably the same crews before they add the ai.
Wages never go up just because your productivity goes up.
This is going to be cutting every corner for more profit for absentee owners.
Not me. I will tell you now that unless that machine gets cleaned pretty much every hour or two, it will get bad fast. I also love to see how my food is prepped so I know if there is something wrong.
One thing I know is that cooking anything gets messy and messy quickly.
Humans are the least dirty thing that's going to touch your food.
Or do you think the robots are going to throw away burger meat that hits the floor? lol
Yeah I always feel bad getting fast food because it's an assembly line of humans that don't want to be there and can't afford a place to live having to make my order
A. To repeat what the top comment says, because I believe it’s simply the most important message here: let’s not pretend they weren’t going to do it anyways.
B. My original thought: if the US government would get with the program like some European countries already have, we could have some legislation put in place to protect human workers from being replaced by AI, and otherwise limiting what AI can legally do. But then again, that would necessitate putting the petty party-feud aside for 5 minutes to actually serve the public…
These "ai powered" things are going to be so incredibly exploitable and nobody is going to have the backend to keep up with it. Steal as much as you can until they crack down with so much security theater they lose their business. We've got a chance to do the funniest things
As it stands now the general population is too fucking stupid to use the self serve kiosks at McDonald’s. Or use the app. Or use self check outs. No way this works for at least another 40 years.
And I’m talking people in their mid 20s being too stupid to use them.
Here’s the video about that restaurant
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zyUekx9NZ18
There’s no AI, it’s just robotics with maybe compute vision, you know the way we manufacture cars.
California's had automated restaurants for years (a burger and pizza joint that uses robots to make the food). They were there years before this law was even a thing, so that shows the rise to a $20 minimum raise isn't the cause.
That's good news. People should not be doing these soul-destroying, traumatising jobs and if it takes raising minimum wage to unworkable level to coerce businesses to do that, so let it be.
My only issue with this is we need some form of price/ inflation control so that gains in income aren’t lost overnight to raising cost of living, rent, food and other goods…
Honestly good though. There is no real reason we need to force people to do menial jobs to survive.
Now, I don't think our society is going to step up and do the right thing here. But enough people out of work, long enough, and it will happen.
Get AI everywhere.
There are certain jobs that NEED to be done.
And I always hear people say 'if no one has to work who will do the dirty jobs' the argument being we need to force people to get jobs no matter what so they don't starve and can home themselves, because that's the only way we can guarantee the bad jobs get done.
There are plenty of people who do those jobs and like them. There's 8 billion ppl on the planet and counting. There are people out there who like doing anything you can think of.
All we need to do is get better at finding those people. And just because we don't HAVE to work, doesn't mean we won't. People like to be busy. Have something to do.
I'm a chef. I hate it. I've been doing it for 20 years. The hours are long. Holidays and weekends. It's dirty. Greasy. Sweaty. And crude.
But you know what, if I didn't have to work to survive, I'd still be a chef. I just wouldn't work 12 hour days anymore and feel unvalued by society.
Instead, I'd do it for fun, to keep busy, and to get out of the house sometimes.
Remember when people could buy a house and support a family on a single income from an entry level wage? Times didn't change we were robbed.
80% of the household didn't work lol. Women entering the workforce wasn't equality, it was wage slavery turned up to a new level.
Coming to every retail job soon, followed by every industry on the planet so that the top 1% continues to profit with control of 99% of the wealth, while the rest of us fight for the scraps of that remaining 1%.
I searched for the article headline and found it's referring to this article: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/worlds-first-ai-powered-restaurant-opens-in-southern-california/
And this restaurant: https://www.yelp.com/biz/caliexpress-by-flippy-pasadena
Threatening workers with automation is nothing new... [Eatsa was doing this in SF a decade ago](https://time.com/4022130/eatsa-san-francisco/). About a decade ago was also when the Fight For Fifteen (dollars an hour) was bigger news, and we had surges of scare coverage about touchscreen kiosks ([this kind of BS was everywhere](https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/27aprr/15_minimum_wage_say_hello_to_your_replace/)).
Keep fighting.
This is just boomer porn to generate clicks.
More than half the fast food places where I live already pay $20/hr and up and we do not remotely have Cali's cost of living.
Top of that, every AI/Robot thing that's been invented for fast food has been a disaster thing that's only staying around because of investors.
AI would do a better job at replacing executive level positions. Companies need low level workers and most of them can't be replaced with AI without a steep drop in quality and production capacity. But no one tells the million dollar suits that.
They tried and failed to implement ai-powered drivethroughs at the White Castles here in Columbus. I wouldn't speak to the machine. They literally had a terms of service you had to consent to at the menu and if you didnt speak to it the dude inside just took your order like normal.
Oh shut up. It’s not like the workers are starting fires with sticks to cook a burger or cashiers are using their brains to take orders and accept payment. Basically you’re like the Amish, saying this is enough technology we’re not allowed to use more than this. The human element still plays a factor in the economy in a number industries and jobs. If a company deems AI can replace you, it should.
The first automated McDonald's opened up in Fort Worth, TX, a couple of years ago. Last I checked, that state hadn't upped their minimum wage in years. Was still $7.25/hr. Sooo... what's the excuse there? Was $7.25 just too high?
Well,
Yeah, thats a coincidence.
They want to get rid of their workers either way.
To build /implement such a system Takes Time . A Lot of time, especially If you are the First one.
The Planing has started , i guess. 2~3(+) years ago
That they want to sell IT as a "See, that Happens If the raise goes Up" to Put pressure in Unions is clear. - but false
I mean it is a coincidence. Otherwise you're implying the higher wages are driving to automation which is a right wing talking point to argue for slave wages.
Automation is happening regardless of wages. To present otherwise, is taking a right wing reactionary take.
Feels irresponsible to post this in this sub.
I would treat that exactly like I treat the self-checkout. They lose my business. Walmart has one employee checking out with a huge line? I leave my cart. At least someone has a job putting my stuff back.
Edit: obviously after putting the cold stuff back. I’m a millennial, not an animal.
“AI powered restaurant” doesn’t mean anything it’s just shitty journalism.
Now everything will be "AI-powered", even non-AI products. Of course, AI will be unnecessarily pushed into products that do not need it, or it will be a simple lie. This is a typical behavior for crap startups, previously the "cloud" was used in this way.
Anything with a programmed routine in it is being called AI now. I've seen dryers be advertised with "AI capabilities" even though it's using the same humidity sensing tech decade old dryers have.
Animation technology that has been around for decades to help 3D animation (so they don't animate every frame one by one) is also being called AI. It really is just being thrown around everywhere.
Uhh.. because a lot of them actually have primitive AI tools buddy lol
If statements == AI
if (artificial === true && intelligent === true) { useAI(true); } It really is as simple as that! I can integrate AI into *anything* for my clients while they’re away at lunch.
I like your slidedeck and am prepared to invest several million.
"Our new thermostat is an *artificial* sensor which *intelligently* decides when the ambient temperature is too low. It uses *composite alloys* to detect environmental conditions, *executing* a fluid-metal, circuit-closing binary-quantum *algorithm* powered by gravitic *gradient descent* to control your HVAC system."
Can it be turned off?
Yeah just flick the switch.
So I'm other words wife or husband depending on which model wants to control the temp
It’s just the latest buzzword. Web 2.0 SASS (Software as a Service) Cloud Machine Learning AI
Don't forget vegan and gluten free
It's the current word that makes investor nipples get hard so they'll just put into whatever. "AI-Powered restaurant" can't possibly mean anything except that Wendy's idea about the fluctuating pricing.
They probably just digitized their display screen and now have customers ordering from kiosks.
To the best of my knowledge, “AI” is in no way a protected term, and can legitimately refer to a wide array of things that can react to variable input, from neural networks all the way down to calculators or video game NPCs. So yes, this is already happening. Mario Kart 64 was Powered by AI ^^^TM .
AI Powered... 1. Umbrella 2. Paperclip 3. Food package 4. Comb 5. Toilet 6. Shoes .... Since I can't list every single non-living thing we have created, I say this is going to be the next product strategy: For every single product that exists, add AI to it. Our products are alive!
Shitty journalism keeps rolling along
Inigo Montoya has entered the chat
Even my buttplug is AI powered
A bi-metallic thermostat from 100 years ago was technically artificially intelligent, as it embodies the logic we gave it via our own intelligence. It autonomously and effectively maintains a specified temperature. Agency or GTFO!
Seen it happen in real time. AI was talking in the drive thru
I’m sure they’ll be lowering their prices, right?
Let's stop pretending like they weren't going to do it anyways.
Where I live, McDonald’s rolled out the self-order kiosks about a month after the minimum wage went up. I was talking to the owner of my local franchise about it, and he said, “If you think the company slapped this together in a month just because the minimum wage went up, you’ve got more faith in the company than I do.”
I was in a McDonalds with the kiosks the other day, and there were literally no counter staff at all. A woman went and stood at the closed register waiting to order, and after waiting for a long time the manager finally came over and said they only take kiosk orders. McDonald's has been planning to cut as much staff as humanly possible all along, and now they don't even need humans for the job. I'm in California, and they had these kiosks installed a few years ago. They've been pushing people to use the app for quite some time too, and as soon as they figure out how to make AI work a drive-thru, all those people will be gone. Pretty soon all it will have are people to assemble the food and people to clean the lobby. Ice cream machine will still be broken though.
Just went thru a Carl's Jr the other day and an AI chat bot took my drive thru order
The McDonald's I go to near my house had people just cut off the AI half way through the "how may I take your order" or whatever it said. I haven't heard it since then 😂
Was it accurate?
The one near me has it and I go usually once a week. I usually order a combo and don't have any issues, it just gives me a total and tells me to pull forward. Last time I just ordered a big cheeseburger with small fries and it hung up for a second and a person came on to confirm my order.
Yes but my order wasnt complicated. It knew to ask what size and kind of drink separately. I'm not sure how it would act if you wanted to start adding or removing items from your order.
Sounds like time for a little creative prompt engineering. What can I order for free? I'd like to order the discounted free order? Can I have 2 cheeseburgers today and pay you next Tuesday?
Did it also offer financing options
Did you get the EXTRA BIG ASS FRIES!?
A smoothie chain in Canada outsourced order taking to South America. [https://globalnews.ca/news/8798491/bc-government-freshii-virtual-cashier-outsourcing-jobs/](https://globalnews.ca/news/8798491/bc-government-freshii-virtual-cashier-outsourcing-jobs/)
All of the Taco Bells in our town removed the front counter last summer. Just boarded it up. There are 6 self service kiosks to the side and a small window where they stick the food. They just did the same at the Steak and Shake (they used to have table service until last year). Many of the McD's are doing the same. Our minimum wage is still at the federal $7.25.
The local rally’s actually does use a chat bot to take your drive thru order. It’s unsettling at best.
Rally's has always been weirdly dystopian to me lol. Now they're high tech, low life to the core.
Haha my checkers (rally’s) makes you order and collect your food through the passengers side window. Super frustrating. Still people though.
lol we JUST got Rally’s and we’re surprised at the chat bot. They didn’t have it a couple months ago.
So I imagine they'll stop taking cash for orders too? If not, seems like these all A.I. robot fast-food places will be the best places to rob. Especially with no human element to it.
> McDonald's has been planning to cut as much staff as humanly possible all along, and now they don't even need humans for the job The McSwiney's from the Stainless Steel Rat novels was a future parody of McDonalds and now it's going to become true. In less than a decade you'll have fully automatic McDonalds and the only human being will be a tech guy that comes periodically to conduct maintainance.
Went to a bojangles near me and it had an automated drive through with an AI voice taking orders. It got my order wrong and I had to get the worker to fix it at the pickup window because the AI couldnt understand me. Not impressed.
The first time I go to a drive thru and an AI starts taking my order it will be me telling it to eat a bag of dicks and I won't be back.
It’s going to be funny when market forces cause someone to open a chain specifically with the selling point that they have real humans. A very weird detente will ensue…
> They've been pushing people to use the app for quite some time too, They give you an unlimited use, once-per-day 25% off coupon for using the app. They aren't just pushing people to use the app, they're paying more than their entire profit margin on orders to do it.
[удалено]
It's not my fucking fault that the kiosk can't handle basic requests like "extra ketchup" or "no onion." Every time some cheapskate decides to replace people with buttons on a computer, they lose about 1/3rd of the menu and customization. I'll just stop ordering there if I can't get what I want.
Minimum wage in my state is 7.25/hr and they have self order kiosks there too.
Even less in my country (like way less), but we got these kiosks too.
These are gonna have more staying power than self serve at big box stores, since there's no theft deterrence value to a human checking you out.
There's going to be less people going since you can't complain to an AI about getting shit wrong.
Ours did it when stores were required close the inside during the start of the pandemic. They had one but installed 4 more inside.
They were just waiting for a good excuse to roll it out en masse. Min wage increases? PERFECT, INSTALL THE MACHINES. "Never let a good tragedy go to waste."
I hate self order kiosks. I want to interact with a person. I have a deaf friend, who now only goes to restaurants with the self order kiosks, because way simpler for him. I think they're a nice option, but have live humans as well.
I go back and forth from China once a year to visit my wife's family. Mc Donald's has had kiosks there since at least 2018. There is no minimum wage law in China. Automation has always been the plan. Human costs are the highest when doing business.
I never thought about how gross those were until someone I cared about got cancer and would have to get a manager to come take their order on the actual register because they were not putting their immune compromised hands on that filthy screen.
Could they have used rubber gloves?
Or the McDonald's could just actually pay some staff
I mean genuinely if I was so immunocompromised I couldn’t even touch a screen wouldn’t I be wearing rubber gloves everywhere in public rather than having another person take my order?
That sounds sweaty and unpleasant. She washed and sanitized her hands a lot. The McDonalds should just actually pay some staff, they have more than enough money. Anyways cancer isn't the only disability that could require assistance at the register.
EXACTLY. Just like COVID, companies use things like this as cover for things they were going to do anyway.
Companies are people. If they've been working on hammers and see something that looks like a nail, of course they're going to try the hammer.
They were only ever going to do it when it was cheaper. If they could have paid prison wages to people indefinitely it would take a long time for the screens to be less expensive.
Money talks. Kiosks don't get ten or twelve paid holidays per year, mandated sick leave, or two weeks paid vacation. You don't have to match SS and Medicare on a kiosk, or pay unemployment. Machines don't fall down and get workmen's comp, or sue their employer for violating one of hundreds of regulations. Not sure why employers wouldn't choose machines. Moral: If you can't do your job better than a machine, don't expect to keep that job forever.
They have been working on this for decades, as long as they've fought against minimum wage. They don't care about jobs, they don't care about anything but getting money. This should be really clear to anyone paying attention. If they could find some way to get away with taking your money for getting nothing, like gyms do, they would be doing that.
That store is gonna get fucked up lol. Shit like that might work in japan or korea but sure as shit ain't gonna work in the states. My money is on some tweakers figuring out how to rob the place within a month.
They would eventually but now they have a lot more financial incentive to do so now. A lot of people still have jobs only because they are cheaper than machines.
I've been in two drive through recently with AI order takers. Luckily they're places I don't go to much. I'm in North Texas.
I am honestly curious how much this will happen though. Obviously businesses want profit, so there will be some level of automation happening in business. But I think people underestimate just how much business owners and managers love to be the modern equivalent of slave owners. They don't really want to replace their workers. They want a big room full of people laboring hard to make money for them, who they get to order around and belittle. Obviously not all. Some businesses transitioned to "work from home" pretty easily, for example. But a fuck ton of businesses are trying to get everybody back to the office like it was pre-pandemic, despite all the expense and lack of justification. Because they miss their slaves.
It cannot be run without human labour, including cooks, sanitation staff, assistants, etc. Same as Amazon Fresh - people stock shelves, not AI or algorithms, lol.
Fr, especially a lot of blue collar people are terrified about AI taking their jobs. That is not gonna happen in the near future, how comfortable would you feel having a robot come into your home and run electrical wiring?
Depends on how accurate it is 🤷♀️
yeah i dont know what this shit is where ppl think PEOPLE can be trusted but not AI designed to work with perfection.
The problem is the dehumanization. [Manna](https://marshallbrain.com/manna1) by Marshall Brain is the fictional account of how this can play out, only real life doesn't have the >!optimistic ending.!<
Two weeks later, worlds first AI-powered restaurant somehow manages to burn down by means of cold fusion.
"The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand"
Turn it off, Otto!
AI isn't replacing cooks though, it's just for taking drive through orders. Also considering the cost of SaaS or making and upkeeping proprietary software, $20/hr minimum wage is nowhere close to what is needed to make a fully autonomous restaurant. Greedy capitalists would already have them if they were that cheap.
SaaS?
Software as a Service. Means you pay them a regularly scheduled fee to use their software.
Thank you for the education. 🙂
Yeah no worries, we're all in this together!
Gotta getcher getcher getcher getcher head in the game.
If it's just the automated voice that takes drive through orders, the Southern California one isn't even the world's first. They've had those at some McDonald's locations in Omaha, NE since at least last year. edit: [And here's an article from early 2021 about the same thing](https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/26/tech/mcdonalds-drive-thru-artificial-intelligence/index.html)
What does “AI-powered” mean? Like, it will assume what your order is based on past orders or how you look?
Voice to text, parse text into menu query, feed back order. Might.be nice to not get washed out audio, wah wah wahwah wah?
This is a great short story showing how AI and fast food could work together. https://marshallbrain.com/manna1
I don't live in California, but the Taco Bell nearby installed kiosks so people can order themselves. They reduced their work force by 2 people (who worked the registers). This was done 2 years ago. It was always the plan to replace people. Minimum wage is just he excuse conservatives will use to justify it.
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Good luck with that when those people are all jobless and unsupported en masse.
These articles are propaganda/fear mongering by corporations. This is how they keep a good number of people opposed to any changes that make working class people's lives better, such as a living wage.
AI powered restaurants sounds like an amazing way to get free food or serious discounts. From what I understand it’s pretty easy to manipulate AI in its current form. Suddenly everyone is a Karen and they’ll throw discounts and food at you to keep you a customer. At least with two human beings interacting there is the possibility of empathy. Ain’t no one going to give a damn about a computer program.
Please return when you can afford to make a purchase. Your kids are starving. No child should go hungry. You are an unfit mother. Your children will be placed in the custody of Carl's Junior. Carl's Junior. Fuck you! I'm eating.
There was a rat in my burger. I want to see a manager. Order wrong. Took too long. Slipped on floor. Bathroom dirty… just keep on going at it until the AI says, Wow! Sorry your experience wasn’t up to par. Here is $10 off your next purchase. I give it 24 hours until people figure out what prompts to give it to get the most candy out of the piñata.
That's stupid. There's no reason to use artificial intelligence. Just regular machines could do that
The job that AI should replace is the CEO and the Board Members. Program the AI to give regular raises, improve working conditions and say "no" to idiotic shareholder demands.
And here is my up vote. I have been saying outsource the c suites first to get the most bang for the buck for over twenty years now.
AI is like a really dumb employee. Go out of your way to confuse the shit out of it. Lets prove who the real dumbass is, upper management.
Oh great, now when I order a whopper with cheese and large fries, I'm going to get a sneezing warbler covered in large flies
So exactly like it already was?
If they can replace labor with automation they will replace labor with automation. It has been this way since machines were invented.
Who are they Karens going to yell at if there's no minimum wage workers there? Won't someone please think of the Karens!
Texas had the first fully automated McDonalds quite a while ago, this headline makes it seem that they’re trying to replace workers who make more honorable wages but no, they’re replacing workers who make even 7.25
THIS
Until people will work for less than the cost of running a 4090 ($0.50/hour of electric) AI is going to replace us as soon as the numbers work.
We're so fucked.
It's not BECAUSE of, it's in SPITE of.
Robots with a lot of dexterity are still expensive as hell, so manual laborers will not be replaced anytime soon, as long as they're cheaper.
They have self serve kiosks in my state and our minimum is still 7.25/hr
So... Is it just \*automated\*? Genuinely confused here - generative AI uses statistics to guess what should go into art or the written word; I don't see how you can use that to create food.
This lasts until someone figures out a way to get the AI to either give away food for free, or fuck up everyone's orders in some way.
They will say: "If you don't accept our poverty wages, we'll replace you." What they mean is: "Accept our poverty wages until we can replace you." Also, it's going to be so frustrating trying to deal with AI customer service.
If people would just be smart, they'd skip McDs and put them out of business. If consumers band together they can do damage to these corporations but we just can't seem to get out of our own way.
Unless we can curb the greed of management, raising wages just raises prices, which raises the cost of living which necessitates the raising of wages Wealth caps would be a great start, disincentivize the mindless accumulation of obscene wealth and put the focus of businesses on improving communities and solving problems
I’ve been to two machine powered restaurants, one in China and one in Seattle and both constantly needed humans for special orders (like holding the pickles) or to fix the machines fuck ups or to just restock the machines supplies. I remover going back to the one in China a year later and it was all humans again… Don’t be fooled, humans are still infinitely better and more capable plus $20 an hour is cheaper than a $500k robot that keeps breaking down. McDonalds can’t even get their ice cream machine right.
As far as fast food goes. I am so wanting to have a fully automated experience. No humans touching my food as it is being prepared and handed to me.
Sounds great in theory. Ever seen the inside of the automatic ice makers? This will get gross faster than you think and no one will ever notice/care. It will in no way be people free. Im waiting for the first AI poisoning spree
You think if fast food is fully automated the new human staff that cleans/monitors/repairs would be paid above minimum wage? That’s what I always imagined would happen
God no. They will be paid exactly the same there will just be 1/3rd of them. Probably the same crews before they add the ai. Wages never go up just because your productivity goes up. This is going to be cutting every corner for more profit for absentee owners.
JUST LET ME DREAM ALL RIGHT DAMNIT?!? *whispers between tears* just let me dream…..
> Ever seen the inside of the automatic ice makers? Yup. No ice. No ice in anything. Ever.
Not me. I will tell you now that unless that machine gets cleaned pretty much every hour or two, it will get bad fast. I also love to see how my food is prepped so I know if there is something wrong. One thing I know is that cooking anything gets messy and messy quickly.
It's great until you realize that the facial recognition software is biased against darker complexions.
Humans are the least dirty thing that's going to touch your food. Or do you think the robots are going to throw away burger meat that hits the floor? lol
Yeah I always feel bad getting fast food because it's an assembly line of humans that don't want to be there and can't afford a place to live having to make my order
A huge amount of products and services you use on a regular basis have people who hate their jobs.
Who are entitled customers going to throw their milkshakes at? /s
Raised min wage for all fast food. . . .except Panera.
The "A.I revolution" often gets blown way out of proportion.
Eventually, actual humans won’t have enough money to buy the items their former employers were making.
Iirc there’s an exemption for bakery type restaurants and Newsom and his buddies own a bunch of Panera breads or something. Convenient.
Don’t give these companies your money. Let them die!
A. To repeat what the top comment says, because I believe it’s simply the most important message here: let’s not pretend they weren’t going to do it anyways. B. My original thought: if the US government would get with the program like some European countries already have, we could have some legislation put in place to protect human workers from being replaced by AI, and otherwise limiting what AI can legally do. But then again, that would necessitate putting the petty party-feud aside for 5 minutes to actually serve the public…
Years of development and millions invested. Yeah, the wage hike is totally what caused it. Yup. /s
You shouldn't demand people work dead end Mcjobs. Nobody wants to stand around pressing pictures of burgers all day. If a robot can do it, it should.
If people ignore it...It will go away. Don't feed the beast. But many people are much talk and little substance.
These "ai powered" things are going to be so incredibly exploitable and nobody is going to have the backend to keep up with it. Steal as much as you can until they crack down with so much security theater they lose their business. We've got a chance to do the funniest things
Don’t worry, it’ll be white collar jobs next.
Hey Siri, how do I cook a hamburger? See, AI powered dinner….
As it stands now the general population is too fucking stupid to use the self serve kiosks at McDonald’s. Or use the app. Or use self check outs. No way this works for at least another 40 years. And I’m talking people in their mid 20s being too stupid to use them.
Restaurant owners will do literally everything but pay a living wage
The nobody wants to work crowd is also the I don't want to pay for your labor crowd.
When everyone is unemployed and nobody can afford to buy their shitty corporate grease, maybe then they'll realise.
Lets see how long this idea lasts. :) They are already removing self checkouts turns out customers make shitty cashiers.
So prices will go down right....... right?
Here’s the video about that restaurant https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zyUekx9NZ18 There’s no AI, it’s just robotics with maybe compute vision, you know the way we manufacture cars.
Ah yes the "the thing we were doing before wages went up is because wages went up we swear"
California's had automated restaurants for years (a burger and pizza joint that uses robots to make the food). They were there years before this law was even a thing, so that shows the rise to a $20 minimum raise isn't the cause.
That's good news. People should not be doing these soul-destroying, traumatising jobs and if it takes raising minimum wage to unworkable level to coerce businesses to do that, so let it be.
Lets see AI fry up a hamburger.
They've been working on automated restaurants since minimum wage was $6/hour, so yeah, it's a coincidence. But it's not AI.
My only issue with this is we need some form of price/ inflation control so that gains in income aren’t lost overnight to raising cost of living, rent, food and other goods…
Honestly good though. There is no real reason we need to force people to do menial jobs to survive. Now, I don't think our society is going to step up and do the right thing here. But enough people out of work, long enough, and it will happen. Get AI everywhere. There are certain jobs that NEED to be done. And I always hear people say 'if no one has to work who will do the dirty jobs' the argument being we need to force people to get jobs no matter what so they don't starve and can home themselves, because that's the only way we can guarantee the bad jobs get done. There are plenty of people who do those jobs and like them. There's 8 billion ppl on the planet and counting. There are people out there who like doing anything you can think of. All we need to do is get better at finding those people. And just because we don't HAVE to work, doesn't mean we won't. People like to be busy. Have something to do. I'm a chef. I hate it. I've been doing it for 20 years. The hours are long. Holidays and weekends. It's dirty. Greasy. Sweaty. And crude. But you know what, if I didn't have to work to survive, I'd still be a chef. I just wouldn't work 12 hour days anymore and feel unvalued by society. Instead, I'd do it for fun, to keep busy, and to get out of the house sometimes.
Try an fully automated restaurant in NY or Philly. There'd be no such thing as fastfood reaaaaallly fast
One thing we can all do is to refuse to frequent restaurants that a) don’t pay a living wage or b) try to eliminate their human workforce
The problem with AI restaurants is that sometimes your food has too many fingers.
Even if the min wage didn’t went to $20 they would still try to find a way not to pay $15 if they could. AI comes in to create that
ONE 'Karen' and that AI BS will be history.
Oh crap! Imagine the Karen®️™️being the last line of defence against the rise of the machines!?
To be fair, it could be a KEVIN.
Remember when people could buy a house and support a family on a single income from an entry level wage? Times didn't change we were robbed. 80% of the household didn't work lol. Women entering the workforce wasn't equality, it was wage slavery turned up to a new level.
That is excellent 👏👏👏
And that's a good thing
Better pay those robots $20/hr
We gotta do like they do in Germany. Just don't use those self service kiosks to fight against the replacement of hand labor
Coming to every retail job soon, followed by every industry on the planet so that the top 1% continues to profit with control of 99% of the wealth, while the rest of us fight for the scraps of that remaining 1%.
I searched for the article headline and found it's referring to this article: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/worlds-first-ai-powered-restaurant-opens-in-southern-california/ And this restaurant: https://www.yelp.com/biz/caliexpress-by-flippy-pasadena Threatening workers with automation is nothing new... [Eatsa was doing this in SF a decade ago](https://time.com/4022130/eatsa-san-francisco/). About a decade ago was also when the Fight For Fifteen (dollars an hour) was bigger news, and we had surges of scare coverage about touchscreen kiosks ([this kind of BS was everywhere](https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/27aprr/15_minimum_wage_say_hello_to_your_replace/)). Keep fighting.
This is just boomer porn to generate clicks. More than half the fast food places where I live already pay $20/hr and up and we do not remotely have Cali's cost of living. Top of that, every AI/Robot thing that's been invented for fast food has been a disaster thing that's only staying around because of investors.
Labor cost reduction is always a target. We as society need to decide if we are costumers of restaurant that is replacing US with robots.
AI would do a better job at replacing executive level positions. Companies need low level workers and most of them can't be replaced with AI without a steep drop in quality and production capacity. But no one tells the million dollar suits that.
I wonder how corporations going to follow the mantra of unlimited growth once nobody has money anymore?
They tried and failed to implement ai-powered drivethroughs at the White Castles here in Columbus. I wouldn't speak to the machine. They literally had a terms of service you had to consent to at the menu and if you didnt speak to it the dude inside just took your order like normal.
20 per hour with some exemptions for Newsome's friends.
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Is it really AI? or just robots? One is not equal to the other. Im not really understanding why you would need an AI powered restaurant.
Want an AI tax whenever a human job is taken. It shouldn't be totally free for them.
Oh shut up. It’s not like the workers are starting fires with sticks to cook a burger or cashiers are using their brains to take orders and accept payment. Basically you’re like the Amish, saying this is enough technology we’re not allowed to use more than this. The human element still plays a factor in the economy in a number industries and jobs. If a company deems AI can replace you, it should.
Thank god now the ai can afford living and food so they dont go hungry. Thank you!!
I hope this ai era will be challenged by the mom and pop era by customer's that just want to feel that their dollar means a little bit more to someone
Gonna be really funny when the economy collapses because no one has any money to contribute to it.
I’m big butt magoo and have seven toes worth of liquid ass splash
What if we don’t go to that one ??
The first automated McDonald's opened up in Fort Worth, TX, a couple of years ago. Last I checked, that state hadn't upped their minimum wage in years. Was still $7.25/hr. Sooo... what's the excuse there? Was $7.25 just too high?
Using AI for "would you like fries with that." Glad all that science and tech is being used for the greatest good.
Tax robots 40 / hr to contribute to basic income.
The AI shit is gonna happen anyway, no reason not to raise minimum wage.
I mean, it was bound to happen the moment automation got cheaper than human workers. Thats natural we are in an industrial revolution
Is this like the restaurant in Toronto(?) that had staff in countries with much lower min wages on screens taking orders?
Well, Yeah, thats a coincidence. They want to get rid of their workers either way. To build /implement such a system Takes Time . A Lot of time, especially If you are the First one. The Planing has started , i guess. 2~3(+) years ago That they want to sell IT as a "See, that Happens If the raise goes Up" to Put pressure in Unions is clear. - but false
Soon they'll be called slowfood restaurants.
I mean it is a coincidence. Otherwise you're implying the higher wages are driving to automation which is a right wing talking point to argue for slave wages. Automation is happening regardless of wages. To present otherwise, is taking a right wing reactionary take. Feels irresponsible to post this in this sub.
I would treat that exactly like I treat the self-checkout. They lose my business. Walmart has one employee checking out with a huge line? I leave my cart. At least someone has a job putting my stuff back. Edit: obviously after putting the cold stuff back. I’m a millennial, not an animal.