Robots Run McDondald's in Texas

[Cow Poke]

As I've heard it said, $0/hr is the real minimum wage.

Have you see that some states are paying unemployment in excess of $100k?

[Cow Poke]

No thanks. I prefer interacting with interactive menus and machines instead of entitled twits who think they are owed 15 bucks an hour for punching in an order or flipping burgers and removing fry baskets when the timer tells them to.

I LOVE the "pizza vending machine" at Little Caesar's. The pizza is still prepared and baked by humans, but I order it in an app, get a text that it's ready, along with a numeric code.
Then I go to the store, walk in past the customers in line, and enter my code into the "pizza vending machine".
The little door opens, I take out my pizza, and leave the store without the need to interact with anybody at all.

And, the Scotsman in me loves the fact that I don't have to tip!

little-caesars-pizza.jpg

[rogue06]

Welcome to the First Ever McDonald's Where You're Served by Robots—In Texas

McDonald's has begun testing its first-ever robot restaurant in Texas, sparking debate and intrigue in equal measure.

In Forth Worth, Texas, the branch is fully automated and requires no human contact to order and pick up your favorite meal.

The introvert's dream gained viral attention online after TikTok and Instagram user foodiemunster shared a video from inside. With 1.2 million views, the video shows how customers can use automated screens to order fast food and collect it via a machine.

McDonald's explained in a statement that the restaurant includes new features including the "Order Ahead lane," where customers can receive their order on a conveyer belt.

The restaurant is the latest move in McDonald's "Accelerating the Arches" growth strategy, which is working on innovation to improve customer experiences.

"When you step inside the test restaurant concept, you'll notice it's considerably smaller than a traditional McDonald's restaurant in the U.S. Why? The features—inside and outside—are geared toward customers who are planning to dine at home or on the go," McDonald's said in the statement.

"Inside the restaurant, there's a delivery pick-up room for couriers to retrieve orders quickly and conveniently. There are also kiosks, where customers can place their orders to go, and a pick-up shelf for orders. Outside the restaurant, there are several parking spaces dedicated to curbside order pick-up, as well as designated parking spaces for delivery drivers."

The introduction of the new technology has divided people online who were unsure about the ethical impact of the change.

"Well there goes millions of jobs," said one commenter, while another added: "Honestly if they go through with this I'll just boycott McDonald's, their food's mid at best anyway."

"This will put so many people out of work," said another commenter. "I'm not for it."

Robots in Texas? Working at McDonalds?

Somehow I sorta figured they'd look more like...

ed388ef30ed898b5db406a67f2c6ff1b.jpg

[Diogenes]

I LOVE the "pizza vending machine" at Little Caesar's. The pizza is still prepared and baked by humans, but I order it in an app, get a text that it's ready, along with a numeric code.
Then I go to the store, walk in past the customers in line, and enter my code into the "pizza vending machine".
The little door opens, I take out my pizza, and leave the store without the need to interact with anybody at all.

And, the Scotsman in me loves the fact that I don't have to tip!

little-caesars-pizza.jpg

"Pizza" is being used rather liberally.

[rogue06]

By the way, I'm wondering when Walmart will have the Christmas Party for us free self-check 'employees'!

Jonesing for a slice of cold Christmas 1-topping pizza?

[rogue06]

On the contrary, boycott such places. Doesn't matter how much robots save over human employees if human customers won't eat there.

If the other places are more expensive folks will vote with their wallets.

[rogue06]

Also I just want to point out that this is what I predicted would happen if burger flippers kept demanding $15/hour.


https://theologyweb.com/campus/forum...98#post1065298

So did virtually everyone else.

[Mountain Man]

Have you see that some states are paying unemployment in excess of $100k?

When the pandemic hit and I was laid off from my job, I landed a temporary gig answering phones for my state's unemployment office, and I talked to a lot of people sitting at home collecting more in unemployment than I was being paid to work full-time to answer their questions.

[rogue06]

When the pandemic hit and I was laid off from my job, I landed a temporary gig answering phones for my state's unemployment office, and I talked to a lot of people sitting at home collecting more in unemployment than I was being paid to work full-time to answer their questions.

Wait. Your state had people at the unemployment office answering phones?

[Mountain Man]

Wait. Your state had people at the unemployment office answering phones?

No, working from home.

[rogue06]

No, working from home.

Yeah, but answering the phone.

I know people who tried several times a day for months on end never getting a pick up or a call back.

[Mountain Man]

Yeah, but answering the phone.

I know people who tried several times a day for months on end never getting a pick up or a call back.

You can take phonecalls with a computer. All you need to work from home these days is a laptop. I think at the peak, there were around two hundred of us answering phones, but it wasn't enough to keep up with demand. It was literally one call after another for eight hours a day, every day. Probably the worst job I ever had. But you know, I would still rather work a job like that than sit around and collect unemployment.

[Starlight]

Sounds like the headlines are a bit misleading on this one. This McDonalds still has workers apparently in the kitchen, just not customer-facing workers, so the orders are cooked by humans and delivered via a conveyor belt. So plenty of human workers still on site.

Texas' minimum wage remains at $7.25, so not much evidence that minimum wage rises caused this.

As for automation taking jobs, people have feared that for ~150 years and it doesn't seem to have happened. When automated looms were invented in the 1800s people thought it would cause mass unemployment, but the loom workers just went on to find other jobs. When we look at agriculture, in ancient times a farmer could produce enough food for his family from his farm, now with technology farmers are about 150x more efficient. Does this mean only 1 in every 150 people have jobs now? No, but perhaps it means only that many have farming jobs and the rest went to work in different professions. Unemployment is currently at record lows, so if automation is going to take all our jobs, it's not doing so currently.

[rogue06]

Texas' minimum wage remains at $7.25, so not much evidence that minimum wage rises caused this.

It's not the raising of the minimum wage but McDonald's workers demanding $15/hour. That's what made installing such expensive equipment practical and cost effective. It wouldn't be at the $9.50-10/hr. typically paid.

[Cow Poke]

Sounds like the headlines are a bit misleading on this one. This McDonalds still has workers apparently in the kitchen, just not customer-facing workers, so the orders are cooked by humans and delivered via a conveyor belt. So plenty of human workers still on site.

Welcome to the First Ever McDonald's Where You're Served by Robots—In Texas

SERVED by Robots - doesn't say anything about cooking.

In Fort Worth, Texas, the branch is fully automated and requires no human contact to order and pick up your favorite meal.

Order and pickup. Check. Doesn't say anything about how they are cooked.

The thread title came from the link TO this article, and, yes, the entire restaurant is not "run by robots".