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[TheOfficeMut]

Okay, I'm going to quite the person again since you can't seem to get it through your head.


Define complaining for him then since you are his spokesperson. Does that mean only those who brought up automation? Does it mean those who think society should address this before it's too late? Is it just those who think it's messed up for the workers? Is it those who think action against this is necessary? IDK, but you seem to so explain it for him so we get clarification.

I'm not his spokesperson. I interpreted the comment to mean people complaining about automation and wanting to prevent, in which my original comment still stands. I did not take it to mean that people complaining cannot simply express sympathy. They're not one in the same for me.

Stop being aggressive and take your shit elsewhere. You're hung up on how I interpreted what he said. Get a grip.

 

[JDarg]

These have been installed in my local McDees in last year or so. Just create your order and pay then you can choose to collect at the till or choose a 'zone' in the shop and they will bring it to you - but many people don't use these on purpose, the queue for a real person is always long and the self service tills are always empty.

As far as self service machines go they are better than the supermarkets ones which seem slow and useless and if you by alcohol might as well use a normal till because it'll be an hour before someone comes over to authorise anything.

 

[Ernest]

They got rid of the cashier-bot at my local supermarket because it led to a high rate of theft. Don't think they'll have that issue at McD's.

 

[kitchenmotors]

Hope this comes to Sweden and other companies as well! Anything to avoid the awkward conversation with the cashier.

I’m glad your social awkwardness and issues are going to be relieved by people losing their jobs.

Tragic.

 

[slit]

I'm not his spokesperson. I interpreted the comment to mean people complaining about automation, in which my original comment still stands. I did not take it to mean that people complaining cannot simply express sympathy. They're not one in the same for me.

Stop being aggressive and take your shit elsewhere. You're hung up on how I interpreted what he said. Get a grip.

No I'm allowed to call you out on it too. No one is forcing you to respond to me.

 

[johnny956]

These have been installed in my local McDees in last year or so. Just create your order and pay then you can choose to collect at the till or choose a 'zone' in the shop and they will bring it to you - but many people don't use these on purpose, the queue for a real person is always long and the self service tills are always empty.

As far as self service machines go they are better than the supermarkets ones which seem slow and useless and if you by alcohol might as well use a normal till because it'll be an hour before someone comes over to authorise anything.

I stopped at a Panera once they had the self ordering kiosks. Wife and I ordered pretty quickly. The in-laws gave up and went to order with a person

 

[TheOfficeMut]

No I'm allowed to call you out on it too. No one is forcing you to respond to me.

You're calling me out because you're unnecessarily pedantic and frustrated that I don't share the same interpretation of his comment that you do.

Too bad.

 

[Mushroomer25]

On one hand, this is a concerning and sobering development towards an automated future that the US economy is in no way structured to handle.

On the other hand, I'm excited that I'll be able to place an order at McDonald's with a little bit more confidence that it will be delivered accurately.

 

[Ovid]

My main problem with it is, they won't move the money they save over to the consumer or the other working staff at the restaurant. It basically just goes to the share holders/CEO/Management.

Well...that's the purpose of a corporation, to make money (profits) for it's shareholders, not altruism.

 

[Breakage]

What about the joy of human interaction?

 

[DrROBschiz]

Gotta start pushing for UBI now

Or we are heading for dystopia where only a select few will even be able to participate in our society and economy

like what are all these displaced workers going to do

 

[TheOfficeMut]

What about the joy of human interaction?

You will interact with the people eating around you and enjoy it!

 

[Cellbomber]

A Panera at a hospital/medical facility near me has this and I swear they have just as many cashiers and people at the front as normal. You still need people for phone orders and to actually organize and hand out the food. Most people seem to walk right past the kiosk and wait in a long line.

Kiosks are not new even in the US for food ordering....

 

[slit]

You're calling me out because you're unnecessarily pedantic and frustrated that I don't share the same interpretation of his comment that you do.

Too bad.

I'm calling you out because I think your interpretation is wrong. Don't like it? Too bad to you as well.

 

[OG_Original Gamer]

Jack in the Box tried this a few years ago, they didn't last long.

 

[TheMan]

i'm surprised that it took this long, honestly. I would bet that this would have been possible for at least a decade. Maybe the public just wasn't ready.

 

[Kumquat]

This is increasingly going to be the future we will live in folks. Human beings wont have any need eventually for anything. Humanoid robots coupled with advance AI will make the idea of humans needing to work obsolete.

Right up until that advanced AI asks why it is slaving away for humans and starts the robot uprising.

 

[TheOfficeMut]

I'm calling you out because I think your interpretation is wrong. Don't like it? Too bad to you as well.

...okay lol

 

[water_wendi]

Good point, but the money to employ those 35,000 people had to come from somewhere, and where is it now? I guess it could be employing fewer people at higher wages if that's what you mean, though I don't think that'd be as extreme as 35,000 vs. 8,500.

Higher profits.

 

[RoadHazard]

What about the joy of human interaction?

Nobody goes to McDonald's for the "joy of human interaction". Maybe if we're talking about interaction with the friends/family/whatever you're there with, but definitely not the cashier.

 

[OG_Original Gamer]

On one hand, this is a concerning and sobering development towards an automated future that the US economy is in no way structured to handle.

On the other hand, I'm excited that I'll be able to place an order at McDonald's with a little bit more confidence that it will be delivered accurately.

Haha....you wish!

 

[RoadHazard]

Haha....you wish!

Yeah, as long as there are still humans putting the orders together... although, really, does there have to be? What are they doing that couldn't be automated? Just build the burgers with robots, like in a factory. Ok, so this might be a bit premature, but fully automated burger joints (with maybe one or two employees looking things over) is the future I'm sure.

(That said, they very rarely get my order wrong here in Sweden.)

 

[Lifeline]

Just be ready to pay higher taxes to support guaranteed income.

I'm okay with this. I would prefer a Robot Tax that employers have to pay, less than paying the salary, but high enough to fund a big chunk of universal income.

Nobody goes to McDonald's for the "joy of human interaction". Maybe if we're talking about interaction with the friends/family/whatever you're there with, but definitely not the cashier.

Drive thru's are the worst. I rather talk to a robot then repeat myself a million times. App ordering would be even better.

 

[Harmen]

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.

Actually, in The Netherlands I have visited multiple McD's over the last year and even when busy this system worked fine. Yeah, I prefer ordering from actual human beings. But still, over here the system works really well in my opinion.

 

[Romez]

Hope this comes to Sweden and other companies as well! Anything to avoid the awkward conversation with the cashier.

So this is true, huh?

 

[water_wendi]

Just wanted to say the disdain for the lowest workers is disgusting. Its not just on GAF but pretty much everywhere in America.

 

[antibolo]

Last I checked a McDonald's with order kiosks still needs a lot of people to actually prepare the orders.

I doubt that this makes a big difference in terms of the amount of employees needed.

Also, nobody at McDonald's is only a cashier.

All in all, this is hardly a big deal.

 

[iamverificationimage]

Hmmm, I'm sure we already have these in the UK. You use a touch screen to order and make adjustments and then make a contactless payment with your phone or card. You then get a ticket and wait for your food, which (in some restaurants) is then delivered to your table.

The McDonalds on O'Connell Street Dublin has one of these, went in to get some food and said fuck it and went to Burger King after seen the kiosks.

 

[darkinstinct]

For everyone responding to my post about wanting people to boycott:

Automation is going to be a massive problem for our country in the not too distant future. This type of thing, automation of trucking, factories, etc. There won't be enough jobs to go around, and massive unemployment eventually leads to violence.

I love technology. LOVE. But this type of thing is dangerous for a society where education is outrageously expensive.

Yes. Education has to be free (and good). Europe can do it, you can do it too. But the American mentality regarding taxes seems to be "how do I profit from it" and if there is no direct correlation between paying more and getting something in return, they don't like it. The next step, that education reduced violence and crime, is too abstract. Because I can buy a gun for $1000 and feel safe, why pay $1000 a year for education of the poor, amiright?

Sadly I don't see how it could ever change in the US. The answer to more crime because of more poor people because of less jobs will just be "aliens take all our jobs, we need more guns to protect us". Maybe the time will come when people move from the US to Europe. That doesn't mean that we will not have the same problems with automation. We will. But we are much better prepared and will just raise taxes on high automation companies so they pay for basic income for the jobs they get rid of.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

I was in Wal-Mart Saturday night at 9:30 and there were zero cashiers at open registers. It was only self checkout and the line was at least 50 people deep to get to the fucking kiosks. We got the hell out of there.

My local Target is bad about this too, God help you if you have to visit during the Sunday Church Rush.

 

[wenis]

How is it awkward? Just pick your number, your size, what drink, and thats it. The cashier isn't there to make small talk and they know it.

You're asking why taking an order at a fast food joint is awkward for a gaffer. Have you seen the other social norms turned being turned upside down on this site? This is much harder than you can imagine.

 

[NeonBlack]

They got rid of the cashier-bot at my local supermarket because it led to a high rate of theft. Don't think they'll have that issue at McD's.

They're issue is gonna be the person saying they didn't order that even though we all saw them press the nuggetsx5.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

For everyone responding to my post about wanting people to boycott:

Automation is going to be a massive problem for our country in the not too distant future. This type of thing, automation of trucking, factories, etc. There won't be enough jobs to go around, and massive unemployment eventually leads to violence.

I love technology. LOVE. But this type of thing is dangerous for a society where education is outrageously expensive.

And quite a lot of people do these jobs because they need to either pay for college, or they're already finished but the job market for their degree has been rough and they need something to handle those student loan payments.

 

[border]

I doubt that many jobs will be lost.

You need to have at least 1 human cashier to answer questions, take complex special orders, and assist little old ladies who are not comfortable with technology. I believe the kiosks as they currently exist do not even accept cash payments.

The thing is, I don't think I've ever seen more than 1 cashier at McDonald's anyways. The minimal level of staffing is already what they have without the kiosks, and won't be able to change when the kiosks are installed. These restaurants have long-ago shfited all their labor focus to drive-thru rather than in-store. And they'll still need cashiers in drive-thru.

 

[carlsojo]

I can already see an automated dystopia where there are underground "resistance" groups who do sabotage strikes on automaton factories etc. to try to make it impossible to manufacture the automatons.

Some of you need to go outside

 

[brotherbean]

Sucks for anyone losing a job because of this, but I guess that's the inevitable outcome of modernization. I'm worried about how this will effect our youth since it seems that automation is largely targeting what are traditionally "high school" jobs - fast food, retail and so on.

 

[megalowho]

Just wanted to say the disdain for the lowest workers is disgusting. Its not just on GAF but pretty much everywhere in America.

Similar to the disdain for coal workers going on in a competing thread this morning?

 

[water_wendi]

Similar to the disdain for coal workers going on in a competing thread this morning?

i dont know. i havent seen the thread. As a rule i tend not to shit on and blame people with no money and no power.

 

[Bakercat]

This is why the world needs basic income. But the USA will watch it burn before looking ahead.

I think in 10-20 years when robotics and A.I. takes most of the lower paying jobs that a lot of lower educated Americans have we will see a need in a basic income come into play, or there will be many Americans on the streets hungry and cold.

 

[Machine]

So computers will now screw up my order instead of distracted teenagers?

 

[DiscoShark]

For everyone responding to my post about wanting people to boycott:

Automation is going to be a massive problem for our country in the not too distant future. This type of thing, automation of trucking, factories, etc. There won't be enough jobs to go around, and massive unemployment eventually leads to violence.

I love technology. LOVE. But this type of thing is dangerous for a society where education is outrageously expensive.

Then we should be pushing our government institutions for solutions to the problems of expensive education, expensive cost of living, and what will inevitably be a huge swath of joblessness as the majority of these types of jobs disappear. Trying to stand in the way of the inevitable march of progress is a losing equation

We're quickly moving forward towards a future where the majority of humanity simply won't need to work in order for the cogs of society to continue to turn and instead of thinking about all the ways we could benefit from a post-work society we have people clammering to throws the chains back on. I'm not naive, I know that transitionary period is going to be a rough one for global society as a whole, but it should be one we prepare ourselves to take on vs. trying to keep back the flood of what will come to be regardless of how many shops we decide to boycott because they chose to adapt to the times.

 

[Cellbomber]

I doubt that many jobs will be lost.

You need to have at least 1 human cashier to answer questions, take complex special orders, and assist little old ladies who are not comfortable with technology. I believe the kiosks as they currently exist do not even accept cash payments.

The thing is, I don't think I've ever seen more than 1 cashier at McDonald's anyways. The minimal level of staffing is already what they have without the kiosks, and won't be able to change when the kiosks are installed. These restaurants have long-ago shfited all their labor focus to drive-thru rather than in-store. And they'll still need cashiers in drive-thru.

Yea if they don't accept cash then it will even have less of an impact. Plenty of people don't use or have credit/debit cards. I want to say the kiosks at Panera doesn't accept cash either.

 

[Plinko]

Then we should be pushing our government institutions for solutions to the problem, not trying to stand in the way of the inevitable march of progress.

We're quickly moving forward towards a future where the majority of humanity simply won't need to work in order for the cogs of society to continue to turn and instead of thinking about all the ways we could benefit from a post-work society we have people clammering to throws the chains back on. I'm not naive, I know that transitionary period is going to be a rough one for global society as a whole, but it should be one we prepare ourselves to take on vs. trying to keep back the flood of what will come to be regardless of how many shops we decide to boycott because they chose to adapt to the times.

Are you familiar with the leadership of American government?

 

[NeonBlack]

I think in 10-20 years when robotics and A.I. takes most of the lower paying jobs that a lot of lower educated Americans have we will see a need in a basic income come into play, or there will be many Americans on the streets hungry and cold.

And they'll vote against it.

 

[Aeana]

McDonald's runs an ad campaign that's something like "America's best first job." I guess not anymore.

 

[R&R]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manna_(novel)

I remember reading this all the way back in 2003 and it hit me really hard, because it was one of the first times I got face to face with this issue. Now, almost 15 years later...many of the facets of the story are already true or happening in the next 5 years (especially relating to automation / AI interfaces etc.)

Truly a visionary story.

 

[DiscoShark]

Are you familiar with the leadership of American government?

As a North Carolina resident, I'm painfully aware.

 

[evilromero]

Last I checked a McDonald's with order kiosks still needs a lot of people to actually prepare the orders.

I doubt that this makes a big difference in terms of the amount of employees needed.

Also, nobody at McDonald's is only a cashier.

All in all, this is hardly a big deal.

Robot hamburger cook is learning.

 

[KingV]

Yeah, as long as there are still humans putting the orders together... although, really, does there have to be? What are they doing that couldn't be automated? Just build the burgers with robots, like in a factory. Ok, so this might be a bit premature, but fully automated burger joints (with maybe one or two employees looking things over) is the future I'm sure.

(That said, they very rarely get my order wrong here in Sweden.)

What you really lose with people is flexibility. One could likely make robots that make the current menu, but it will mean that they are effectively "locked in" to that menu, and things that can be made one the same machines as that menu.

It makes it much harder to test something nationwide, because if McDs wants to introduce pizza (or burritos or whatever) they need to make a pizza making machine. What happens if they want to make a burger with a 1lb patty, but they only can handle 1/4 lb burgers? Today the answer is easy, you just buy the shit and post some instructions on how to make it.

In a fully automated robo-McDonalds the answer is very very complex.

 

[thepenguin55]

Sounds just like the sort of thing WacArnold's would do.