Hippopuncher12
Member
Nothing is going to stop this from happening so.
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Say goodbye to cashiers in 2,500 U.S. McDonalds by the end of 2017.
- Thread starter KSweeley
- Start date
Nothing is going to stop this from happening so.
And some will gain jobs; those creating the automation devices and software.
I agree with you. This will help alleviate the problem in the short run.
BUT...
Sounds like government intervention.
Republican majority.
Sounds like it won't happen
Devils advocate: Who's going to pay for it and how does this help me?
Not really, there were already people working on registers and order software so that will probably be a wash at best
Charles Brandon
Member
This is the correct way to look at it in my opinion. Resistance is futile, adaptation is crucial.
I don't even think that's really the deep issue we face that automation highlights.
To me, it highlights a paradox: technology allows us to do much more work, but it takes away jobs, the arena of "real work" we depend upon for survival value.
I would argue that the problem is this limiting view of work. Then again, I directly support UBI from the position of humanism, believe it is a project of social justice, and will help open our eyes to see that there really is more work that we can do outside of the domains of a literal jobs cult that turns countless lives into ash, for very little gain and very little reason other that status quo remarks.
The issue of precarity reminds me much of Jess Cotton wrote that helps signify this problem in full. If we are not worth what we earn, why do we live in a culture that actually ascribes this illusion to us? After all, those who lack a job in this society are seen as lazy or lack free will; we have weaponized the system and its curation of poverty and precarity as something one's character produces. This is the purest form of gutter trash thought we hold to in secular society today.
Poverty and precarity is not a lack of character; it is simply a lack of money. And we know enough to say those in poverty and the precariat are having less healthy outcomes as a result of this social game being broken for decades.
This risks getting worse, not better. If this is anything like the industrial revolution, we must not forget that was 70 years of precarity, poverty, and suffrage for masses of people. That's a fuckin' lifetime of misery for far too many people.
mercenar1e
Member
don't you worry! IBM is doing everything they can to expand the Watson series to every corner of the market.
FearMyWrench
Member
Some cashiers will still remain for cash regardless. At least the kiosks being used in Canada, they don't support cash transactions.
Jack The Nipper
Banned
Jokes on Mcdonalds, people won't have money to eat
Nester99
Member
it is interesting that such a small thing as bringing the food to me at the table really added to the overall experience.
I would much rather have staff doing things like that or extra cleaning (place was spotless) then collecting my order. Now if I can just order from my phone...
I would much rather have staff doing things like that or extra cleaning (place was spotless) then collecting my order. Now if I can just order from my phone...
Crimson_Gold
Member
Every time I go in a McDonald's, the ice cream machine is broken. It's baffling
Resident_UA
Member
Great! Anyone feeling bad for shitty low paying jobs going away is out of their mind! This will happen sooner or later, so instead of forcing people to work at these jobs we just need a better safety net. What makes profit in the US is information not serving burgers.
The problem here is this is the same culture where people will support candidates who stand against a living wage.
Are we really expecting these same people to support minimum income floors? They likely already think people "are paid what they're worth," which is to say they've lost the fucking plot.
We also seem to wanting to carpet bomb the concept of a safety net at this moment in time, too. It's as if America is just going backwards as all of its problems go forwards.
GasProblem
Member
Are these those easy order kiosks? There are already everywhere in the Netherlands. Only two cashiers max.
They even deliver your order to your table.
They even deliver your order to your table.
Where I grew up the closest McDonalds was kind of a hike and was right by a giant warehouse that was part of a large trucking company. How many people will work at that place in 30 years when the trucks aren't loaded or driven by people? Who's going to eat at that McDonalds which will only have one employee that keeps the machines going?
Will they raise the income of the remaining human workers with the savings from cutting the numbers of humans needed at each location. Probably not, if this was the result though I would definitely support this as a way to give living wages to lower skill jobs. Only way this will happen is by govt raising minimum wages. Surely this would be a good argument for raising it in retail since checkout automation will lead to savings and unless its govt mandated, companies will just pass savings to shareholders rather than employees.
Straight Edge
Member
Yes I have the same question.
Not really, you'd just need one or two kiosks that support cash.
The ones where I live are terrible. They are out of receipt paper or the printer jams constantly. And the confirmation number that flashes on the screen when your order is finished is like 15 numbers long and isn't your order number. You have to quickly look up at the now serving screen and go "I'm probably one of the bottom 3 orders" and wait for them to get to the top of the list then wait for a number that nobody claims, then ask what its contents are and then go "that's mine".
So annoying.
Also the kiosks increase dine in traffic, but the restaurants still ignore dine in over drive thru so you have to wait even longer.
Patterbits
Member
I did both just yesterday. At a restraint I don't get that overwhelming feeling that I'm too slow or wasting the time of the people behind me. Also when paying for food I don't often have to deal with change or accidentally giving crumpled bills or the incorrect amount not of money.
I probably should talk to my counselor about stuff like this
InfiniteBento
Member
As this happens, malls are closing, retail shops are ending also.
Automation + the internet are going to chip away at these jobs bit by bit. Its pretty bittersweet
Automation + the internet are going to chip away at these jobs bit by bit. Its pretty bittersweet
Ugh this doesn't make any sense, it'll never work.
Huh? What does that mean?
And why wouldn't it? Please attack the idea with points.
TheOfficeMut
Unconfirmed Member
Whatever it is you do for a job, I'm sure it would make no god damn sense to suddenly say you don't deserve what you make an hour if you ever make a mistake.
exmachina64
Banned
Do you have another idea?
I'm sure most of the issues that stem from this will be PEBCAK errors.
The sheer expense of it for one, people that work in well paid skill set jobs are going to have to be taxed far higher and that basic income won't cover it, not to mention the basic income itself is supposed to be taxed if it's to come about.
IMO It promotes the idea to all low skill/unemployed to just get free money, and those that have worked for a career or are in important jobs are less better off.
Better idea imo would be to more heavily tax companys like mcdonalds that do this. They're saving money on this, they should be putting it back into the economy not their back pockets.
perfectchaos007
Member
As we make the transition from human point of sale interaction to computer automation, the demand for IT professionals will rise. That seems to be the most future proof profession at this point. Get your IT degrees everyone
There are not going to be enough jobs for the population in the relatively near future. Automation creates nowhere near enough new jobs to replace the ones its going to kill. Economies as we know them break when there are no jobs to give people. There is no other option then to have society as a whole use the productivity of automation to start taking care of the basic needs of its citizens or everyone will be starving that isn't the 1 percent.
Yep capitalism just doesn't work. When you're right you're right
This is fantasy. I work in retail, the level of interaction even the most basic of staff members have, could only be replaced with droids with capable A.I.
It's just a fantasists cop out solution.
Unfortunately we will probably have to go through a period of starvation and violence tobfigure this out, if we haven't destroyed ourselves by then.
EASTC0AST_GH05T
Member
Losing jobs to damn kiosk, rise of the machines.
Ninja Scooter
Member
The perception is that McDonalds are jobs for poor and/or colored people, so don't expect the "bring back mah coal" people to give a shit.
I would suggest you to really examine this myth. I can sit here and say it's bullshit, but I think it would be better as to why you think so lowly of people to think they'd be lazy and "leech." What if they did important work in their lives for no money if they had UBI? Are they leeches? What of a society that disempowers people, that laziness and "doing the least" is a response caused by other factors? Have you considered how means-testing incentivizes non-striving, and how UBI is one of the few policies to actually break the problem of being "forced into the bottom?"
It's like the welfare queen myth: what you assert is an archetype and you're not really paying attention to the depth nor all of the possible conditions that can give a rise to what you assert. Please delve deeper.
Furthermore, Guy Standing argues every country can do something with UBI today as a start, and he's probably the most informed person on the concept on this planet, for his fingers have been in every major pilot done of the last 30 years. People call him to supervise the scopes and implementations of the tests we're seeing in California, for example.
LinkAndEpona
Banned
Definitely. Another good example is coal. More and more of the mining is being either automated and assisted with machines, reducing he amount of human labor. Eventually the industry will be completely minimized by alternative energies eventually.
As for fast food, I hardly go to McDonalds anyway, only twice for 2017. So I'm not even really supporting the workers.
Kibbles
Member
Yeah every time I go to see the cashiers helping make the food or drinks anyway.
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