Robots will replace fast-food workers

[Imp]

So I'm guessing that it's a moist-pants day when you have a poor annual review that also lacks a pay increase?

If I've been a bad bad boy, definitely.

Actually..people go for the food. The experience is second. Going to a restaurant for the "experience" doesn't sound right at all.

"Breastaurants", sweetheart, "breastaurants"...

Most of the sit-down chains in my area have taken this approach. It used to be one or two girls wearing really short skirts to get a nicer tip. Now it appears mandatory.

 

[T9D]

People saying it's about the service....

Well, yeah, duh. That's why we like it, it's faster and easier. It's not because we get some perverse thrill of having a servant help us. If it's automated then it's perfect service and fast. That's why people like the high end restaurants. The food is first, the atmosphere, and then the great service. Well the first two won't change. Instead of only the expensive places having top rate service now you'll have even cheap places with top rate (automated) service. Think about being out on a romantic date, do you really want the waiter to interrupt you constantly and interrupt the flow of conversation or progress of the night? It would be even better without them. Even at a good place there is still more waiting than their should be. Say you are done and just want to get out of there and get to the romance at home, now just swipe the card at the table and you're off with the lady. Just sounds better all around in all areas.

 

[bradley]

F the middle class.

 

[Pulsar]

F the middle class.

Not to burst your bubble - but assembling all these high tech robots and systems would fall to the middle class.

We'd be losing uneducated service style entry-level positions which were never meant to provide a living wage.

I think you might want to work on your 'middle class' definition. They don't work work at Mickey D's, except perhaps the manager.

 

[cuafpr]

It means people who aren't intelligent enough for higher education degrees become criminals, or join the military.

b.c. only people who aren't intelligent enough join the military... which btw is turning down about 80% of applicants right now.

 

[bradley]

Not to burst your bubble - but assembling all these high tech robots and systems would fall to the middle class.

We'd be losing uneducated service style entry-level positions which were never meant to provide a living wage.

I think you might want to work on your 'middle class' definition. They don't work work at Mickey D's, except perhaps the manager.

I will get an army of robots to build and maintain those robot... and robots to build additional robots. I'm only guilty of examining the overall picture.

Oh, F the middle class, it's overrated.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Not to burst your bubble - but assembling all these high tech robots and systems would fall to the middle class.

We'd be losing uneducated service style entry-level positions which were never meant to provide a living wage.

I think you might want to work on your 'middle class' definition. They don't work work at Mickey D's, except perhaps the manager.

That would probably be outsourced to China or maybe Japan. When they are deployed a few contractor/installers would come down, set them up and then leave.

 

[Jeff7]

That would probably be outsourced to China or maybe Japan. When they are deployed a few contractor/installers would come down, set them up and then leave.

Or Germany. They still consider it valuable to have domestic manufacturing jobs.

 

[jad1097]

Right now trades is probably the most secure job actually. No matter what, there will always be a need for physical skilled labor.

Yeah, if you want to work through a temp agency for subpar wages. That is still hot or miss though.

 

[mikeford]

Minimum wage sets the lower limit on quality of employee its practical to hire and raises the cost its practical to spend on automation.

Brought to you by to cheery job destroying pols on the left.

 

[Ruptga]

Minimum wage sets the lower limit on quality of employee its practical to hire and raises the cost its practical to spend on automation.

Brought to you by to cheery job destroying pols on the left.

The notion of technological unemployment leading to structural unemployment (and being macroeconomically injurious) is often called the Luddite fallacy, named after the early historical example of the Luddites.

[if] the Luddite fallacy were true we would all be out of work because productivity has been increasing for two centuries.

Now take your partisan crap back to P&N.

 

[Engineer]

Not to burst your bubble - but assembling all these high tech robots and systems would fall to the middle class.

We'd be losing uneducated service style entry-level positions which were never meant to provide a living wage.

I think you might want to work on your 'middle class' definition. They don't work work at Mickey D's, except perhaps the manager.

Heh. US only makes one robot now (Baxter) and it's isn't that good. The rest of the robots are made elsewhere. Middle class maybe for Europe or Asia...nothing but kicking the middle class down in the US (as usual).

As for the OP, it won't take a raise in min. wage to see this happen. Cheaper tablets are popping up and it's just a matter of time and more testing. Soon, the 1% will be the only ones paying federal income taxes (instead of the famous 53%) as the rest will be below the poverty line (and held there).

Ross Perot says..."I told you so!".

 

[BoberFett]

They don't have to become scientists. I'd take a few extra skilled welders, masons, carpenters, machinists, etc. too.

Oh, you want to drive the value of those jobs down to minimum wage by flooding the labor market. Now that makes sense.

 

[bradley]

Heh. US only makes one robot now (Baxter) and it's isn't that good. The rest of the robots are made elsewhere. Middle class maybe for Europe or Asia...nothing but kicking the middle class down in the US (as usual).

As for the OP, it won't take a raise in min. wage to see this happen. Cheaper tablets are popping up and it's just a matter of time and more testing. Soon, the 1% will be the only ones paying federal income taxes (instead of the famous 53%) as the rest will be below the poverty line (and held there).

Ross Perot says..."I told you so!".

The overall "giant sucking sound" is so intense we should all need earplugs. Yet for some the sound still barely registers and the remainder (who buy into the media's agenda) attribute it to crumbs spilled by grunts at fast food restaurants.

How do you support an economy fabricated on top of an insurmountable lie? with more unbelievable and fantastical lies... that's how.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Oh, you want to drive the value of those jobs down to minimum wage by flooding the labor market. Now that makes sense.

It'll raise the bar for what's expected of people. When the least skilled people in the nation are still skilled enough to do those jobs the country as a whole will be more prosperous for it. Stop thinking short term.

 

[BoberFett]

It'll raise the bar for what's expected of people. When the least skilled people in the nation are still skilled enough to do those jobs the country as a whole will be more prosperous for it. Stop thinking short term.

You fail at basic economic principles.

 

[Jaskalas]

It'll raise the bar for what's expected of people. When the least skilled people in the nation are still skilled enough to do those jobs the country as a whole will be more prosperous for it. Stop thinking short term.

If these low skill workers were capable of high skill jobs... wouldn't they already be in high skill jobs?

 

[SlitheryDee]

If these low skill workers were capable of high skill jobs... wouldn't they already be in high skill jobs?

Not necessarily. I had a long post earlier in the thread explaining why I think that could be the case for a lot of people.

 

[BoberFett]

Not necessarily. I had a long post earlier in the thread explaining why I think that could be the case for a lot of people.

Right, all we need to do is free them from burger flipping and then we can build twice as many buildings with all of those carpenters and welders.

 

[Imp]

If these low skill workers were capable of high skill jobs... wouldn't they already be in high skill jobs?

Upbringing, early opportunities, wealth, and job market have something to do with it. You can't be completely sure that every single low skilled worker is there by choice -- in other words, can we be sure every one of those millions of Chinese factory workers, if given a wealthy family and privileged upbringing, would still be factory workers? Same is true in every country around the world.

And if they all get there, can we all be "high skill" workers? Is there actually a market for that many? Managers need people to manage. A bridge/building only needs so many engineers and many more "low skill" construction people to build. Only so many makes and models of smartphones are used by the majority of the population but millions have to be put together.

 

[futurefields]

The idiot ultra-liberal street kids who work fast food jobs in Seattle are trying to get a $15 minimum wage here and they have the support of our mayor. They have no idea how the economy works lol... problem is they have popular support because of the ultra liberal disease that has infected Seattle. They have no idea what a $15 minimum wage will do to the economy. What will they say when rent goes up by $200 a month? "Now we need $20 an hour."

 

[Imp]

The idiot ultra-liberal street kids who work fast food jobs in Seattle are trying to get a $15 minimum wage here and they have the support of our mayor. They have no idea how the economy works lol... problem is they have popular support because of the ultra liberal disease that has infected Seattle. They have no idea what a $15 minimum wage will do to the economy. What will they say when rent goes up by $200 a month? "Now we need $20 an hour."

I'm assuming you've read up on "market externalities" when studying economics.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Robots assembling burgers, cooking fries and pouring coffee isn't exactly a monumental shift in the fast food workplace over the existing system of hiring the lowest employable members of society to do the same job. In the manufacturing industry robots first replaced union workers making serious hourly wages and companies both saved money and increased the quality of their products. Twenty or thirty years later and the technology has trickled down to where it's cost effective enough to replace minimum wage workers. It was inevitable.

 

[futurefields]

I'm assuming you've read up on "market externalities" when studying economics.

Don't you know what happens when you assume? :biggrin:

 

[Engineer]

The overall "giant sucking sound" is so intense we should all need earplugs. Yet for some the sound still barely registers and the remainder (who buy into the media's agenda) attribute it to crumbs spilled by grunts at fast food restaurants.

How do you support an economy fabricated on top of an insurmountable lie? with more unbelievable and fantastical lies... that's how.

Can't hear it? Hell, our so called leaders are wanting more and more of it. With more so called 'free trade' deals on the tables. The only thing free is we are freely giving up our jobs (and middle class futures) to turn around and import from countries that aren't even on the same planet (much less level playing field - i.e. currency pegging, etc) as we are (figuratively speaking).

Looks like 'we won't stop until it's all at the top'.