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World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant

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Re: World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant

#11
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2020, they will probably be able to grab some weed from the family pantry. On a different note, I am curious to see how economy and society will shape up once most low entry barrier jobs are automated.

It's a triumph that we're automating these kind of jobs. Why are we wasting human talent on inane jobs like store checkout or junk food production? Every person in one of those jobs is a wasted mind. If we could put those minds to work on something meaningful think what we could achieve.

I absolutely agree. The moment there's a more economically efficient way to do X, doing X the old way is a "broken window".

That doesn't mean there aren't downsides, though.

Re: World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant

#12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More importantly, how will people learn basic job skills, like "show up on time" and "do what you're told" if all the traditional first jobs are automated?

Isn't that what schools do? Or actually, parents before you get to school age?

School is a lot more lax about it because it's so much more difficult for them to kick you out.

When I was at school we would sometimes turn up over an hour late or just skip the day altogether. Was a culture shock when I started my first job and got a roasting for being 5 mins late.

Re: World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant

#13
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2020, they will probably be able to grab some weed from the family pantry. On a different note, I am curious to see how economy and society will shape up once most low entry barrier jobs are automated.

It's a triumph that we're automating these kind of jobs. Why are we wasting human talent on inane jobs like store checkout or junk food production? Every person in one of those jobs is a wasted mind. If we could put those minds to work on something meaningful think what we could achieve.

Now workers can be promoted to tomato feeder, or waste fat disposer - at least until those tasks are also automated.

Re: World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More importantly, how will people learn basic job skills, like "show up on time" and "do what you're told" if all the traditional first jobs are automated?

Isn't that what schools do? Or actually, parents before you get to school age?

Ask any teacher, and he/she'll have plenty of stories about parents who do nothing to teach their kids these habits, or even exactly the opposite of that.

Re: World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant

#16
Not exactly kitchen-free, is it? You've got to have food storage areas, produce washing stations, produce prep stations, garbage disposal, and even if the actual grinding, cooking, and sandwich assembly functions are all contained within the robot, you're still going to want to house that somewhere out of reach of the general public, making that area a de facto kitchen.

I wouldn't worry too much about jobs--you're still going to need people to wash, inspect, prep and load the produce, as well as the meat grinders and bun burners. And there better be someone in there to disassemble the robot periodically to give it a good thorough cleaning and reassemble it.

Re: World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant

#17

When I was a teenager the most popular part time jobs among my piers were either working in a supermarket or at a fast food place. Lots of supermarkets are starting to replace humans with self-checkouts and things like this will probably become standard in fast food. So how is a teenager supposed to fund his pot habit in 2020?

Learn programming and do some spec work.

Re: World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant

#18

Not exactly kitchen-free, is it? You've got to have food storage areas, produce washing stations, produce prep stations, garbage disposal, and even if the actual grinding, cooking, and sandwich assembly functions are all contained within the robot, you're still going to want to house that somewhere out of reach of the general public, making that area a de facto kitchen. I wouldn't worry too much about jobs--you're st…

I agree, poor choice of title... That being said, a throughput of 1 burger every 10 seconds is pretty impressive given the final product. By fast food standards, maybe not so quick, but look at the ingredients they're using - I'd argue they're actually real!

Also, I love the conclusion in the article - "After all, how 'gourmet' can you get when your cuisinier is made of cold steel and plastic?" I don't know what the author uses to prepare her food, but I guess gourmet somehow means I should prepare my food with wood utensils over an open fire.

Re: World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant

#19

When I was a teenager the most popular part time jobs among my piers were either working in a supermarket or at a fast food place. Lots of supermarkets are starting to replace humans with self-checkouts and things like this will probably become standard in fast food. So how is a teenager supposed to fund his pot habit in 2020?

This is the future. It's not just highschoolers that can't fund their pot habits (ha), it's adults who can't put food on their family's table.

Re: World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant

#20
post #4

Highly suggested essay regarding food automation in the future: http://marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm

Also by Marshall Brain, a somewhat-related thought-provoking short story about a theoretical future where robots displace the minimum wage workforce: http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm
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