The robot will take your order:
Robots that take your order at a restaurant could be moving from something your parents watched on the Jetsons to the reality of today. The success of San Francisco’s Eatsa, a healthy fast food joint, has convinced Andrew Puzder, CEO of Carl’s Jr, and Hardees that using automated screens to order, instead of people behind the counter might prove to be a wise investment.
Eatsa fully automated restaurant chain https://t.co/xQVxs8v7rn
— Roope Mokka (@mokka) March 18, 2016
This move by fast food restaurants has been met with wide criticism. The robot versus human labor debate is another piece in the larger debate over whether to institute a US, nationwide, living wage of $15 per hour. The amount of confusing information on this topic is endless, possibly because state and city minimum wage amounts change frequently. Currently, the hourly minimum wage is set by a combination of federal, state and local statutes.
Automation comes to food service...I can see this on a tablet or personal phone with a menu where the orders are... https://t.co/XwOI945Tt8
— Dutch Driver (@Dutch_Driver) January 4, 2016
Why doubling the minimum wage may result in increased automation – and hurt the people we are trying to help. https://t.co/WjsHplzdlr
— TalentRefresh (@TalentRefresh) March 16, 2016
The minimum wage differs by where you live:
In a 2009 ruling, the federal government stated that US workers must be paid at least $7.25 per hour. In 2014, 29 out of the 50 US states had a higher than $7.25 per hour minimum wage, while five states: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee have chosen not to adopt the mandate. Currently, the US city with the highest, effective minimum wage is Seattle, Washington at $8.51 an hour, and Atlanta, Georgia at $5.15 an hour.
If robots are ‘hired’ instead of human workers, the hourly minimum wage will matter less because many jobs covered by it will no longer be open to human beings. Taken to an extreme, robots or extending automation could be a threat to lower skilled human labor. Just like it has been in some ways since the industrial revolution.
Carls Jr and Hardee's wants to Replace Workers With Robots - https://t.co/dX1qWvC6LX
— Bill Mitchell (@bwm748) March 18, 2016
Currently, innovations like these automated kiosks are in favorof millennial customers, and company owners. Millennial customers prefer less human contact when they are ordering food.
Fast food restaurants are having difficulty coping with the rise in minimum wages, while still offering customers reasonably priced goods.
Should I get the pickles?:
Minimum wage debate aside, these automated screens are quite ingenious. Human to human contact is minimal, if none. The customer simply goes through a set of options on a huge screen, touching various points on a huge tablet as they craft the perfect hamburger. Arguably, “fast food” is not a product where human interaction or “friendly service” would make a huge difference in customer satisfaction.
Carl’s Jr CEO wants to replace all human workers with robots on @foxnewshttps://t.co/OMiAXhNLXkpic.twitter.com/gd5zCqb2kM
— Evan Kirstel (@evankirstel) March 17, 2016
Who, or in this case, what can produce the best work?
When a machine replaces a human, there are obvious losses like a lack of human interaction (well, maybe who knows maybe a fast-food version of Siri is in the works). Inventions, throughout time have been made to benefit humankind. The real question should be how the low skilled workers who are being replaced can best be served.
It’s almost always about access to quality education:
The answer lies in improving all people’s access to quality education. Sadly, the type of education a person receives, whether at home or elsewhere in the world is a huge poverty indicator. Educational institutions need to offer their students certification and various skill building opportunities. Institutions can start by making all students comfortable in working with technology. These devices will have glitches. Giving students the opportunity to interact, design and fix these automated devices might prove to be an even better outcome than designing your burger via touchscreen.