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McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

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171–180 of 259 posts

Re: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

#171
post #170
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

McDonald's app is really convenient for ordering and paying. And they have coupons. I am a fan.

Used to be a fan until they started having shittier coupons.

Their coupons used to be insane. I went all the time and they have to have lost money on me. I couldn't believe the amount of food I would get for almost nothing. It's no wonder that they couldn't sustain that.

Re: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

#172
post #15

Next they'll come for the cooks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKCVol2iWcc There are ~487k fast food cooks employed at ~$22.6k average wages. That's more than an $11 billion annual incentive to bring robochefs to retail. And that's just fast food, just in the US. Robo janitors may take a bit longer. Maybe they can design automated kitchens that work like jumbo dish washers. Seal, flood, heat, drain, reopen. The jan…

We saved billions of dollars with automation! Why is no one buying our products anymore? Hmm, it must be because they are spending all their money on avocados! I think the only way to go is to do basic income funded by an automation tax. Henry Ford knew that people needed enough money to actually buy his cars and made it happen with high wages.

> Henry Ford knew that people needed enough money to actually buy his cars and made it happen with high wages.

Can't make money by paying people to buy your products. Ford raised wages in order to attract better workers and reduce employee turnover.

Re: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Next they’ll come for the liquidator. The Burger King on the NYS thruway north of nyc went to touchscreen ordering. Everyone refuses to use it and there is one long line going to the one register that remained.

Here in Hong Kong, every McDonalds has 3+ touch screens, I hardly see anyone lining up at the counter these days. I for one only use the touch screens.

I use the McD touch screens. It works, but it takes about 30 clicks to buy something. Also, I was flummoxed until I figured out that [Add To Order] actually means "I'm done, I want to pay now".

I suppose all this was extensively play-tested, but I have no idea what sort of person play tested it given the result.

Re: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

#174
post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used one in HK too, and various other places. One benefit for busy cities is that they are great for allowing tourists to go at their own pace if they struggle with the local language (and often have language options to help them).

That's very true, especially for introverted people like me, who don't like the attention when struggling with a language. It also helps that the devices are pretty responsive, and allow you to order everything. The downside is that I often see older people struggle with it, I guess for them it would be easier to talk to a human.

> who don't like the attention when struggling with a language

I suppose I am the opposite. I enjoy attempting to order food in a tongue I am learning. But going through the process with a native English speaker, I'd rather just push a button on the kiosk.

Re: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

#175
post #15

Next they'll come for the cooks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKCVol2iWcc There are ~487k fast food cooks employed at ~$22.6k average wages. That's more than an $11 billion annual incentive to bring robochefs to retail. And that's just fast food, just in the US. Robo janitors may take a bit longer. Maybe they can design automated kitchens that work like jumbo dish washers. Seal, flood, heat, drain, reopen. The jan…

We saved billions of dollars with automation! Why is no one buying our products anymore? Hmm, it must be because they are spending all their money on avocados! I think the only way to go is to do basic income funded by an automation tax. Henry Ford knew that people needed enough money to actually buy his cars and made it happen with high wages.

Or we recognise that as we automate further that there's less collective work for humanity, and we move away from the idea every adult should be required to work 40 hours a week to survive?

Re: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

#176
post #15

Next they'll come for the cooks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKCVol2iWcc There are ~487k fast food cooks employed at ~$22.6k average wages. That's more than an $11 billion annual incentive to bring robochefs to retail. And that's just fast food, just in the US. Robo janitors may take a bit longer. Maybe they can design automated kitchens that work like jumbo dish washers. Seal, flood, heat, drain, reopen. The jan…

Next they’ll come for the liquidator. The Burger King on the NYS thruway north of nyc went to touchscreen ordering. Everyone refuses to use it and there is one long line going to the one register that remained.

Anecdotally, McDonald's in Australia and New Zealand have touchscreen ordering and I can't remember the last time I saw someone actually ordering in person.

It's so much nicer to be able to take your time, actually view the menu and costs of items, and choose what you want to eat without a line of hungry people waiting behind you.

Re: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

#177
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I've seen touch screen ordering at McDonalds all over the place and most people seem to have no problem with it. Why do you think people avoid it?

I would avoid it just because of all of the various fingers that have touched it before me.

What about the money in your wallet, and the change returned to you when you pay? None of it is hygienic.

Re: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Next they’ll come for the liquidator. The Burger King on the NYS thruway north of nyc went to touchscreen ordering. Everyone refuses to use it and there is one long line going to the one register that remained.

We have those in New Zealand and they were initially awful - slow, hard to navigate/find stuff, actually missing lots of menu items. They seem to have swapped out the system now though and they seem to be relatively usable.

New Zealand was the first country to get them, I believe, which is why they had usability problems to start with.

Re: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

#179
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If robo cooks are truly inexpensive, we could feed a lot more people in need for less money.

People are a lot like stray cats in that the more you feed them and house them, the more of them you have eventually. At some point, before we are all underwater, we are going to need to have a fertility discussion.

No, quite the other way around: the wealthier a country gets, the less kids are born as parents don't need as many of them to reproduce successfully. In fact this trend is so strong that countries like Japan or Germany are facing a really massive demographic problem as the working population shrinks over the next decades.

Re: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice gen in its US drive-throughs

#180

Welcome Manna. https://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

A lot going on there, my main observations: 1. the Australia Project resembles the society in Ian Banks' series The Culture 2. Curious that a post-capitalist society uses credits to ensure allocation, sort of a UBI, but it seems to gloss over a couple details: 2a. Do credits accrue or is it use-it-or-lose-it? 2b. It sounds like credits can be transferred between people (the space elevator story), what stops credit ac…

Space elevator is not credits transferred between people. It is credits being transferred to the public good. Lots of people wanted a space elevator, so they crowdfunded it, but the ownership of the elevator is public; i.e. you get access to the elevator regardless of whether or not you funded its construction.
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