Robots will replace fast-food workers

[raildogg]

Good? Maybe then all those who would have gone into fast food will do something worthwhile instead.

Worthwhile? What does that mean? Please explain.

 

[pete6032]

What is with this? Do people really dislike interacting with other people? Is it really that terrible to go through a checkout lane at Home Depot and have to talk to the cashier? Or that terrible to have to talk to the waiter at a restaurant? I'd much rather have a human than a robot.

 

[Wreckem]

Was just reading last night about online retailing being the death knell for a lot of retail jobs. I can vouch for that will a number of half empty strip malls and big box retailers that have pulled out in my area. Now restaurants/fast food places are dipping their toes in the automated systems to cut down on labor. Its just a bit concerning as for years everyone was griping about how we were turning in to a nation of cash registers jockeys and burger flippers. Now those jobs may be going. How exactly are people on the lower end of the educational scale supposed to support themselves?

The US doesnt have enough jobs for the number we actually educate(see story about the myth of STEM labor shortage).

We are going to have an abundance of skilled and non skilled labor and not enough jobs, at all education levels. That is the reality.

 

[raildogg]

What is with this? Do people really dislike interacting with other people? Is it really that terrible to go through a checkout lane at Home Depot and have to talk to the cashier? Or that terrible to have to talk to the waiter at a restaurant? I'd much rather have a human than a robot.

It's all about me and nothing more. It's part of our selfish nature that's growing more and more selfish all the time. All this technology only feeds it. If you think we are selfish now, watch the future generations. Wow

All the people jumping for joy, please be careful. Nothing man creates will be without massive problems. Everything man touches will further create problems because he is the problem.

(I understand that the proposed minimum wage law has something to do with this.)

 

[raildogg]

The US doesnt have enough jobs for the number we actually educate(see story about the myth of STEM labor shortage).

We are going to have an abundance of skilled and non skilled labor and not enough jobs, at all education levels. That is the reality.

The very sad thing that people do not realize is that the more we try to solve problems the more problems we create. Perhaps we create more problems by trying to solve problems. But we are all blindly marching towards a big illusion.

 

[squarecut1]

I've believed for a very long time that technology is a double edged sword. Over time I've become more and more skeptical of it. Not least because of it leading to so much social isolation.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Worthwhile? What does that mean? Please explain.

More personally gratifying and beneficial to society as a whole among other things.

 

[Jaskalas]

Those who fear technology and prefer to see themselves as a constant victim often say this sort of thing. Democrat perhaps?

Those who ignore plight and prefer to see themselves as above it all often say this sort of thing. King Louis XVI perhaps?

I invite you to P&N to discuss the declining value of labor, the growing legion of unemployed, and what our response should be. It is not fear to recognize something and seek to address it. Fear is what happens if you do not address it and the people become hungry. Bon Appétit.

 

[Phoenix86]

Good? Maybe then all those who would have gone into fast food will do something worthwhile instead.

Guess you enjoy supporting massive welfare. Are you wealthy enough to afford it without complaining?

 

[raildogg]

Guess we're nearing Wall-E type way of living pretty soon. Sad that very few are aware of this. We're all too happy with our computers, gadgets, toys and little entertainments.

 

[raildogg]

More personally gratifying and beneficial to society as a whole among other things.

Now what do you mean by beneficial? I'm not trying to be difficult but these are very vague terms. And how do we determine what is beneficial or not? Who decides it?

 

[pete6032]

Guess we're nearing Wall-E type way of living pretty soon. Sad that very few are aware of this. We're all too happy with out computers, gadgets, toys and little entertainments.

Which really just seem to separate us instead of connect us.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Now what do you mean by beneficial? I'm not trying to be difficult but these are very vague terms. And how do we determine what is beneficial or not? Who decides it?

Beneficial as in good for the mental and physical health of the people involved and as in good for the economy. Forcing people out of the kind of drudge work that goes on in fast food and into the kind of job they'd have to get once fast food is gone is good for them and good for us.

 

[Insomniator]

What is with this? Do people really dislike interacting with other people? Is it really that terrible to go through a checkout lane at Home Depot and have to talk to the cashier? Or that terrible to have to talk to the waiter at a restaurant? I'd much rather have a human than a robot.

I can bag my own groceries and items faster myself and pay via a kiosk faster then some cashier that is on their cell phone half paying attention to the job. I can interact with a tablet at a restaurant and not have to wait 15 minutes for the check, or 10 minutes to be acknowledged in the first place.

So YES, I do want as little human interaction as possible for things humans often suck at.

 

[Red Squirrel]

It would actually be fairly easy to do too. You place your order either via a web based system using your own device, or a panel on site. You either enter your cc# or swipe it physically. A series of machines would then prepare the food. Most fast food items are simple enough that it could be fairly easily automated. Automation also means more consistency.

The sad part though is this is tons of jobs lost. Technology is a double edged sword, from a business perspective automation is great but from a person's perspective it means it's even harder to find a job.

Instead of having 20 people working in the back of McDonald's you have 1 or 2 monitoring and maintaining the machines. Heck, not even, as that could be outsourced. The machines send an alarm to a central station down south and they dispatch a tech, who is probably a "temporary" foreign worker. For topping up food, once a month (or however often the truck comes in) they slide these preset canisters into the back of the building which simply feeds the machines till the next load. The driver takes the empty canisters out and puts them in his truck and leaves. The canisters would basically be "magazines" with all the ingredients setup in a way that is easy to feed the machines. These too, would be filled in some random mega centre down south, probably by outsourced people.

Basically the only people who actually work for the company would be the execs.

 

[squarecut1]

Yup...but like I said, if most dont have money to spend how do even the executives make their millions. Economy is all inter connected.

For all the disparagement of low skill jobs, the spending of those workers sustains the jobs of high skill folks

 

[PieIsAwesome]

I'd rather deal with robots/tablets then the average person that works at these places. A robot wouldn't put mayo on my burger after I specifically told it not to.

As for what happens when all low-skill jobs are automated? I have no idea, but I doubt it will be 'the end of capitalism as we know it'.

Hard to maintain the current system when no one can produce anything of value.

There will have to be some way of determining what is produced by the machines and who gets it.

 

[Orignal Earl]

I open my foreman, I toss a steakette in there
Roboburger

I don't need to go out for that

 

[PliotronX]

LOL protesting themselves right into unemployment. Flip those burgers, bitch.

 

[Ns1]

Basically the only people who actually work for the company would be the execs.

You also need people to clean the restrooms when someone violently explodes on the toilet, someone to refill the ice/syrup for coke machines, etc.

I think a major reduction for in-store staff is possible, but complete elimination seems unlikely.

 

[Red Squirrel]

You also need people to clean the restrooms when someone violently explodes on the toilet, someone to refill the ice/syrup for coke machines, etc.

I think a major reduction for in-store staff is possible, but complete elimination seems unlikely.

All that stuff could be automated. Also, get rid of seats, just have drive thru/inside pickup. If there are no seats you don't need to have restrooms.

The pop machine would be part of the canisters that the truck driver delivers. The drivers would have a key to open a bay door then the empty canisters are ejected off to the side and the newly filled ones are inserted into a slot. The canisters have a bar code or RFID so the robot knows what's in each.

But I guess technically you need at least one person per location to physically oversee everything, like if something jams or if there are people loitering etc. Those people can be temporary foreign workers though. Heck, even now most fast food employees are foreign workers now, so they may as well have replaced them with robots since those are all lost jobs.

 

[Ns1]

All that stuff could be automated. Also, get rid of seats, just have drive thru/inside pickup. If there are no seats you don't need to have restrooms.
Yeah, losing all that dine-in revenue sounds like a great idea!

The pop machine would be part of the canisters that the truck driver delivers. The drivers would have a key to open a bay door then the empty canisters are ejected off to the side and the newly filled ones are inserted into a slot. The canisters have a bar code or RFID so the robot knows what's in each.
Periods of high demand and you run out of syrup. Does a call center dispatch a truck IMMEDIATELY to the location to refill? How long does that take? Longer than the 3 minutes it would take some random employee in the back I bet

But I guess technically you need at least one person per location to physically oversee everything, like if something jams or if there are people loitering etc. Those people can be temporary foreign workers though. Heck, even now most fast food employees are foreign workers now, so they may as well have replaced them with robots since those are all lost jobs.
Yeah let's trust this 2 million dollar store to the temp immigrant worker!

 

[Red Squirrel]

From some exec guy's view sitting in a tower on Bay Street, it would make sense. Does not mean it actually would. :biggrin:

How do they dispatch emergency syrup now? It would basically be the same way. In fact 90% of the building would probably be cold storage anyway, so they would have tons of stock all the time. When the last canister of something is running low it triggers an alarm to dispatch a refill before it actually does run out.

 

[BeeBoop]

This is how skynet begins. First google creates the AI and the AI takes control over the robots.

 

[Red Squirrel]

It will start to poison our food to kill us all.

In fact, the machines arn't just at the fast food place, but at the actual farms. First they start to create mutated killer chickens so it's not only a war against the machines but a war against giant evil killer cow-chicken animals that somehow can also fly and shoot laser beams out of their eyes (they'd be partially cyborg).

Then things just go worse from there.