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[EYEL1NER]

I've honestly stopped going to Panera as much since they started pushing the touch screens. They take so long and are just a pain in the ass to use.

I've never been in a Panera to know how their automated systems work. If you make a mistake or change your mind about something while ordering, do you need an employee to come over and remove the item from the order? That is one of the many things that frustrates me about self-checkout at a lot of store I go to.
Price is different than you thought and you don't want the item anymore? Accidentally scan an item twice? Now you have to wait for an employee to come over and punch in their code so the item can be removed.

 

[Eumi]

I'm torn on this. On the one hand, people losing jobs sucks.

On the other hand, ordering chicken selects at 3 in the morning whilst drunk has never been easier.

 

[Chris1]

This has been in the UK for a while

There are still cashiers though, just like 1/3rd the amonut there used to be. Mostly just there for people who can't use a machine or want to pay with cash (the machine only accept card but this will no doubt change at some point aswell)

 

[And_Gignac]

Wall Street cheers people losing their jobs.

 

[Falchion]

On one hand it sucks that people will lose their jobs, but on the other I do like self checkouts and online ordering type solutions.

 

[Generalpsyduck]

Will the government tax them more now that they are no longer "job creators"?

Spoiler

they won't.

 

[Shoeless]

Will the government tax them more now that they are no longer "job creators"?

Spoiler

they won't.

Maybe they can force these new McDonalds outlets to power their kiosks with coal furnaces.

 

[sleepnaught]

Doubt anyone will lose their job, just moved to a different position

 

[7DollarHagane]

Doubt anyone will lose their job, just moved to a different position

Yep, I don't think mcdonalds was hirng people to stand at the register for 8 hour shifts. They do other shit when there are no customers.

 

[mashoutposse]

It's happening.

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=236754750

Order-taking is low-value; it's crazy to think restaurants will continue with inefficient and error-prone and unreliable humans in the face of rising minimum wages when technology can easily do the job while simultaneously offering a better customer experience.

 

[Just_myles]

These machines are going to need maintenance. On the job train them?

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

They're in low skilled jobs because they're low skilled/don't have qualifications ect ect.

Not sure where you are from but in America this is mostly false. The are many people way over qualified to be working at McDonald's yet for whatever reason they have no choice but to accept that type of job.

I consider my job to be low skilled, it's manufacturing, and it requires only basic skills. Only a high school diploma is needed and I consider the job far easier than McDonald's. This job pays more money, and is far easier, than 90% of the jobs in my area. I even had to go through a temp service to get the job. And only got it through them because of connections.

I am very overqualified for the job.

The problem where I live is there isn't anything in between. The companies here either want someone with a Master's degree for one area or someone with a high school diploma or associate degree for everything else.

 

[Randam]

Here's how this will go: They lose the cashier, but machines are finicky and people are stupid so the lines will go out the door. Then they'll need someone to help people with the machines and nothing is solved. This exact scenario happened at my movie theatre and happens at self checkouts in my town.

Qft.
Same with robots replacing workers.
All fine and dandy, but as soon as some thing stuck for example, the robot will stop working, were a worker would free the part and continue working.

 

[Game-Biz]

This is great news. The sooner the better.

 

[Piggus]

Hopefully the kiosks are less annoying to use and allow for more special options than the ones I used in Hong Kong and Singapore.

 

[Maximus.]

Their kiosks are easy to use. Old people will be lost.

 

[KingV]

Yep, I don't think mcdonalds was hirng people to stand at the register for 8 hour shifts. They do other shit when there are no customers.

All the McDonalds near me always have hiring signs out that say "starting at $11/hr".

Note: I don't live in a big metro area.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I can't wait for our robot future where all the robots have no one to serve because no one has any money

 

[Extollere]

I wonder what Americans will end up showing more hate for. Homeless people or the idea of people not having to work to survive.

Haha, they will hate them both of course. Meanwhile income inequality is just gonna keep getting worse. People talking about basic income... that shit is never happening in this country with the wealthy at the top.

 

[KingV]

It's happening.

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=236754750

Order-taking is low-value; it's crazy to think restaurants will continue with inefficient and error-prone and unreliable humans in the face of rising minimum wages when technology can easily do the job while simultaneously offering a better customer experience.

It might happen, but isn't happening yet. The economy is still growing. Productivity is still basically flat. The only evidence of a mass "robot taking mah jerbs" future is anecdotal, like this instance.

 

[captive]

I've honestly stopped going to Panera as much since they started pushing the touch screens. They take so long and are just a pain in the ass to use.

this is my problem with them. And often and this goes for online ordering as well, you can't customize the order very much.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

Wall Street cheers people losing their jobs.

The name of the game these days is cutting labor costs to boost profits instead of using marketing/sales to increase profits.

Wall Street investors believe that domestic sales have hit a ceiling and that growth through foreign markets will take some time to fully mature so, in the meantime, they want to boost profits through internal cost cutting.

 

[Eye for an Eye]

I've honestly stopped going to Panera as much since they started pushing the touch screens. They take so long and are just a pain in the ass to use.

I hate it too at Panera, but even then I still see a very long line for a cashier with kiosks sitting empty and open. But I've also been in there when the kiosks crashed all together.

 

[Acrylic7]

It sucks for everyone loosing their jobs. Still amazed that governments worldwide haven't prepared for this. Also kinda pissed that people think that they have to work. Not for sustaining oneself and their family but the notion of working just because that's what everyone does and expects from you.
I can't wait for a damn robot to steal my job. Working is sorta barbaric. Manual labor anyways.

 

[TemplaerDude]

And I still have people telling me every day that automation "isn't going to be that big of a deal".

 

[John Rabbit]

Doubt anyone will lose their job, just moved to a different position

What position?

And I still have people telling me every day that automation "isn't going to be that big of a deal".

Maybe the robots can create the jobs for us.

 

[dc3k]

Been using the touch screen things at McDonald's for a couple years now. The original ones I used in ~2014/2015 were kinda janky and annoying, but the ones they have now are really awesome. Or I guess as awesome as a touch screen at McDonald's can be.

 

[TheOfficeMut]

I haven't used these automated machines at McDonald's yet but I have a question for those of you who have: Have you discovered more topping options or the such since using them than you had ever known about when it was just a cashier? If my experience with other fast food restaurants is anything to go by, I often find out I can get more of what I'd like through a machine because I'm reading it, whereas a cashier isn't going to regurgitate every modification I can make to the food order. That's a bonus to me.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

I haven't used these automated machines at McDonald's yet but I have a question for those of you who have: Have you discovered more topping options or the such since using them than you had ever known about when it was just a cashier? If my experience with other fast food restaurants is anything to go by, I often find out I can get more of what I'd like through a machine because I'm reading it, whereas a cashier isn't going to regurgitate every modification I can make to the food order. That's a bonus to me.

Yes.

Also didn't know they can salt or other condiments more directly on the burgers.

In Canada, FYI.

 

[MsKrisp]

Good god at all the doom and gloom people in here that think this will result in "rampant unemployment" and drive the local economies into poverty. Have any of you worked fast food or retail? Do you remember how often you were short staffed due to scheduling, callouts, people quitting, or simply not having enough people? Technology supplements the people that are there. At panera, they have the same amount of cashiers and the line to them is always out the door, but there are 4 iPad kiosks as well as the ability to order on the app, allowing me to skip the line if I choose to do so. This allows them to serve more people, rather than people leaving because the line is long. This means more workers needed in the kitchen and more orders can be accommodated. It would be even better if the smaller staff resulted in higher pay for the other employees as well (we know that companies will try to get away with not doing this, but McD's understands the value of higher wages: http://fortune.com/2016/03/09/mcdonalds-wages/

The future is not bleak because they put some kiosks in McDs, ffs

Edit: I also feel less pressure to decide what I want when I use a kiosk or app, I can take time going through my menu options to get exactly what I like without holding anyone up

 

[UCBooties]

When I was growing up there was Taco Bell nearby that was a test location for kiosk ordering. The kiosks were operating a few times that my family went, but before long they were dark and the cashiers were back. A few times after that they were gone entirely.

Now that was over a decade ago, so I'm not going to pretend that the same thing is going to happen here as technology has improved a great deal in the meantime. But I do wonder what they are going to do about reconciling user error or what the contingencies will be if the system goes down, causes payment errors, etc.

 

[Munti]

As stupid as it might sound and as sad I'm for the people losing their job, I am also happy in the same time when I hear news like this.
The more things like this happen, the stronger and faster the society will maybe accept that this is the future and hopefully create a much better & meaningful system/world. Like basic income or less working hours for example.

It's just pity that many have to suffer a lot before that happens

 

[Foffy]

Sounds like a longer term plan. That will definitely involve more robotics, so I can't imagine we'll have a complete, automated cooking/packaging system ready and economically viable for at least another 10 years.

Whether it's 10 years or 10 months from now, the fact we're not even planning to handle this is ridiculously absurd and scary.

This happening is a pointer to a larger social change. The only answer we've had to the automation of manufacturing, for example, was from Donald Trump's restoration campaign promises, which the public bought. Well, it was mostly white people who bought it, but the bullshit was eaten.

If the goal of technology from a business sense is to usurp human labor and costs, the future is trying to automate as much and employ as little. This is fuckin' toxic to a society that is both not making enough jobs as is and will be unable to handle this when the seesaw goes in the other direction to deep instability.

A solution here in the States is a triforce of policies that seem dead in the water at the moment: you need a better healthcare system that assures wellbeing to people prior to jobs, an assured minimum income so any loss of job is not a loss of life, and comprehensive education reform to try and give people some chance of filling in the holes technology can't presently provide. Missing any of this is disastrous, and we miss almost all of this. In fact, the motherfucking GOP are going the wrong direction here in the healthcare front, for they want to start expanding means-testing programs like Medicaid with job requirements. That's the last fucking thing we need here, not the fucking first!

 

[Garrett Hawke]

It's fucked when getting rid of 2,500 jobs is something to be cheered on. Capitalism is shit.

 

[xkramz]

These are around nyc. It's so much better it's amazing.

 

[yyr]

The amount of human interaction in our society is dropping like a rock.

Already, more people are interacting more with screens every day. Typed text is replacing a huge amount of our face-to-face conversation. Children are starting this at young ages. We are isolating ourselves from each other, from society, from the world.

The replacement of human interaction at fast food places will only speed up the process further.

This is scary to me.

 

[yrba1]

Don't mind automation taking some of these jobs, just needs contingency plans for people who lose their jobs as well as lower fertility rates. Luckily the latter is working out, too bad the former gets addressed when it's too late.

 

[Inspector Jones]

The amount of human interaction in our society is dropping like a rock.

Already, more people are interacting more with screens every day. Typed text is replacing a huge amount of our face-to-face conversation. Children are starting this at young ages. We are isolating ourselves from each other, from society, from the world.

The replacement of human interaction at fast food places will only speed up the process further.

This is scary to me.

Yeah, that's worrisome. At least everyone will eventually be just as socially awkward and as poor as I am soon enough.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

Good god at all the doom and gloom people in here that think this will result in "rampant unemployment" and drive the local economies into poverty. Have any of you worked fast food or retail? Do you remember how often you were short staffed due to scheduling, callouts, people quitting, or simply not having enough people? Technology supplements the people that are there. At panera, they have the same amount of cashiers and the line to them is always out the door, but there are 4 iPad kiosks as well as the ability to order on the app, allowing me to skip the line if I choose to do so. This allows them to serve more people, rather than people leaving because the line is long. This means more workers needed in the kitchen and more orders can be accommodated. It would be even better if the smaller staff resulted in higher pay for the other employees as well (we know that companies will try to get away with not doing this, but McD's understands the value of higher wages: http://fortune.com/2016/03/09/mcdonalds-wages/

The future is not bleak because they put some kiosks in McDs, ffs

Edit: I also feel less pressure to decide what I want when I use a kiosk or app, I can take time going through my menu options to get exactly what I like without holding anyone up

The future can be bleak because of the implication. The fact that automation can start at that level, and, even at a pessimistic view of just cutti 10% of workforce, but then multiply that to all fast food, all counter based retail, then you suddenly see the issue.

Mass automation is not an immediate impact, but will happen over time, basically death by a thousand cuts.

My current role in writing software to automate things has definitely giving me a different insight to this. I am not surprised if in 10 years time, my role and what I can do can be replaced as well (and really, it can't even be possible to automate at this point).

 

[Demoskinos]

And so begins the march towards automation

 

[polyh3dron]

I ordered at one of these kiosks recently and it had me take a number thing to place on my table for my order to be brought to me, apparently this number doesn't correspond with whatever number they called out for me to pick up my order up front which I wasn't really paying attention to because i expected it to be brought up to me. Finally when I walked up there quite a bit later to find out what was going on, my food had been sitting there and was already kind of cold.

 

[Not]

Fuck you, McDonalds. You better create jobs somewhere else or even more people are going to suffer for your stupid extra few million dollars.

Fuck. I get automation and its inevitable effect, but it really is coming at a bad time with the income gap showing no signs of not destroying everything we love within five years

 

[Rran]

Will the government tax them more now that they are no longer "job creators"?

Spoiler

they won't.

Yeah, I hate how Republicans have equated "rich" with "job creator." They constantly harp on the idea that taxing "job creators" will hurt employment, but never address the issue of cutting employment positions for the sake of their own profit margins (unless it concerns coal, apparently). They love to take a hardline stance on the issue (e.g. against minimum wage increase for the sake of preserving jobs), but what about when these so-called "job creators" fail to perform their task of creating jobs? From my experience, when you don't do your job, there are repercussions; but apparently the same can't be said for "job creators," i.e. the rich.

 

[ChronotriggerJM]

I welcome this with open arms. If a job can be automated, it should be (artistic endeavors aside).

At the same time, we should be expanding access to education en masse, letting people learn the skills to pursue other avenues.

 

[John Rabbit]

And so begins the march towards automation

Begins? This has slowly been happening for decades; it's only just now starting to bleed out of the blue collar/manual labor sector.

 

[firehawk12]

I welcome this with open arms. If a job can be automated, it should be (artistic endeavors aside).

At the same time, we should be expanding access to education en masse, letting people learn the skills to pursue other avenues.

Every job will be automated though. We're even seeing automation in law.

 

[Crimson_Echidna]

TBH I feel like it's only an inevitability that more Fast Food places will start adopting this. I know one of the movie theaters here in Tallahassee has also done away with having employees at the boxoffice. It's all self-checkout now.

 

[charpunk]

Both locations by me have had this in place for awhile now.

Of course people have no idea wtf to do when they get to the screen, so that's always a good time.

 

[TemplaerDude]

Good god at all the doom and gloom people in here that think this will result in "rampant unemployment" and drive the local economies into poverty. Have any of you worked fast food or retail? Do you remember how often you were short staffed due to scheduling, callouts, people quitting, or simply not having enough people? Technology supplements the people that are there. At panera, they have the same amount of cashiers and the line to them is always out the door, but there are 4 iPad kiosks as well as the ability to order on the app, allowing me to skip the line if I choose to do so. This allows them to serve more people, rather than people leaving because the line is long. This means more workers needed in the kitchen and more orders can be accommodated. It would be even better if the smaller staff resulted in higher pay for the other employees as well (we know that companies will try to get away with not doing this, but McD's understands the value of higher wages: http://fortune.com/2016/03/09/mcdonalds-wages/

The future is not bleak because they put some kiosks in McDs, ffs

Edit: I also feel less pressure to decide what I want when I use a kiosk or app, I can take time going through my menu options to get exactly what I like without holding anyone up

I appreciate your rosy tinted view.

I suspect you have too much faith in the worlds giant corporations.

 

[entremet]

We will be fine. We will figure it out. That's what humanity does.