McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover
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Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover
#2Edge computing will enable applications like predicting when kitchen equipment—such as fryers and its notorious McFlurry ice cream machines—is likely to break down, Rice said.
It is not hard to know if a machine is broken. There is an entire map dedicated to this, which shows state-wide broken rate as high as 40% for some states.
If you know these machines are broken and they are not being fixed, what use will be to know what machines will break in the future? This is not a technology problem, this is a business and people problem. Another case of companies using AI to garner positive marketing, instead of improving their service and customer's experience.
Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover
#3Edge computing will enable applications like predicting when kitchen equipment—such as fryers and its notorious McFlurry ice cream machines—is likely to break down, Rice said. It is not hard to know if a machine is broken. There is an entire map dedicated to this, which shows state-wide broken rate as high as 40% for some states. https://mcbroken.com/ If you know these machines are broken and they are not being fixed…
To be fair, up until recently copyright/DMCA prevented them from repairing the ice cream machines - I'd give it some time to see if things start to improve. Other kitchen equipment does seem to generally be fixed/replaced promptly enough to not typically cause major impact.
Sensors on the equipment seems reasonable to me. Predicting failure in advance can avoid downtime or more costly damage. Machines with degrading performance and some underlying issue can also be a food safety issue, if it isn't addressed until they entirely fail.
Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover
#4Probably what will actually happen is the stick cameras in the drivethrough and sell the footage for model training.
Wait...
Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover
#5Ah, the elimination of payroll, that annoying business expense.
Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover
#6The price has gotten too high for low quality food, no improvements in "experience" will help that.
Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover
#7Chick-fil-A famously attempted similar many years back, there is an interesting and less well circulated after action report on that here: https://medium.com/chick-fil-atech/what-we-learned-from-laun...
I imagine those EAs will be watching this with interest.
Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover
#8> McDonald’s consumers remain pressured, particularly low-income diners and families. The restaurant is hoping that a better tech-enabled experience will help it deliver on its goal of growing its loyalty patrons from 175 million to 250 million by 2027
> [..]
> AI will be able to help McDonald’s tailor its promotions and offers by using customer data such as prior purchasing history, and even linking it with weather data, Rice said. “A customer who we know loves our sweet treats could get an offer through the app for a McFlurry on a hot summer day,” he said.
So the pitch is that McDonald's franchises will use AI-driven deals to entice families who can no longer afford the 40% higher prices.
Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover
#9I thought the recent news that McDonald's is no longer the largest fast food chain on the planet by number of locations was more interesting. Dethroned by a China's Mixue bubble tea franchise.
Re: McDonald's gives its restaurants an AI makeover
#10> McDonald’s consumers remain pressured, particularly low-income diners and families. The restaurant is hoping that a better tech-enabled experience will help it deliver on its goal of growing its loyalty patrons from 175 million to 250 million by 2027 > [..] > AI will be able to help McDonald’s tailor its promotions and offers by using customer data such as prior purchasing history, and even linking it with weather…
I’m also trying to figure out how AI is revolutionizing the business by selling cold treats on a hot day when people did that in the analog era. That seems like it would be a lot more compelling if it found some non-obvious connections.