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McDonald’s ex-CEO: $15/hr minimum wage will unleash the robot rebellion

31 points by Jerry2 10y ago

mtgx 10y ago
If robots are worth it to replace $15/h workers in fast food stores, then they would've been worth it to replace $8/h workers 5 years from now (or less).
- ComputerGuru 10y ago
  Technology gets cheaper (and more advanced/capable) over time.
Tempest1981 10y ago
Our local Chipotle has such inconsistent quality, I would welcome our robot overlords. Last time they put on double the normal amount of sour cream... tasted like burrito soup.
dmode 10y ago
Nice fear mongering from ex-CEO. We all know that robots will be here regardless of what the minimum wage is.
- superobserver 10y ago
  I'd rather see forward-looking companies replace their CEO's with AI.
nitwit005 10y ago
McDonnalds is paying even higher costs than that in other countries and hasn't done it. We have fully automated pizza making machines, but you still see plenty of people in pizza shops. The economics clearly don't work out in favor of full automation at the moment.
joezydeco 10y ago
I was at the very same restaurant show this week as Rensi mentions in the article. The only robot he could have possibly have been referring to was a Baxter robot that Middleby Corp set up as an attention-getting gimmick. It was not an actual product for sale. You can see for yourself here. https://twitter.com/WeRRestaurants/status/605484681245499393 https://twitter.com/WeRRestaurants/status/605484681245499393 It was also at the show last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPwjG-CnLgA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPwjG-CnLgA Automated kitchen technology is way more primitive than this...for multiple reasons.
- tzm 10y ago
  Asia is far ahead of the game.. http://www.parentherald.com/articles/42018/20160508/artificial-intelligence-invades-fast-food-how-ai-technology-could-change-way-humans-dine.htm http://www.parentherald.com/articles/42018/20160508/artifici...
Aaargh20318 10y ago
Good, this means that fewer people have to work, which should be humanity's goal. I don't get this fetish with working. We should decouple labor from income and try to get rid of as many jobs as possible.
- betaby 10y ago
  How to deliver that idea to elites? They own land /capital / intellectual property , robots are not different.
- lujim 10y ago
  If you decouple labor (or work, productivity, whatever) from income how do we know who gets what? I can only speak for myself but I wouldn't want to live only at the bare minimum UBI stipend.
  - Aaargh20318 10y ago
    > If you decouple labor (or work, productivity, whatever) from income how do we know who gets what? It's already mostly decoupled anyway. The 1% don't actually perform any labour yet they get most of the money created by people who actually do the work. The only thing I'm proposing is a better distribution of wealth and free time.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
pm24601 10y ago
CEOs have been replacing workers with machines since the start of the industrial revolution. Calling the machines "robots" is just a different label for the same-old-same-old. P.S. they have also been crying about the minimum wage as a "job destroyer" since it was introduced a century ago.
aexaey 10y ago
"Robot rebellion" in fast-food industry has already quietly happened. Those robots are called "vending machine". There is even a moderately successful fast-food chain in the Netherlands that have fully embraced this "rebellion" some 70 years ago, and they are still going strong [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEBO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEBO
VOYD 10y ago
People still "eat" at McD's?
- mdrzn 10y ago
  Now more than ever it seems http://www.ibtimes.com/mcdonalds-corporation-mcd-q1-2016-profit-expected-rise-revenue-projected-drop-2357882 http://www.ibtimes.com/mcdonalds-corporation-mcd-q1-2016-pro...

31 points by Jerry2 10y ago

mtgx 10y ago

If robots are worth it to replace $15/h workers in fast food stores, then they would've been worth it to replace $8/h workers 5 years from now (or less).

ComputerGuru 10y ago
Technology gets cheaper (and more advanced/capable) over time.

Tempest1981 10y ago

Our local Chipotle has such inconsistent quality, I would welcome our robot overlords. Last time they put on double the normal amount of sour cream... tasted like burrito soup.

dmode 10y ago

Nice fear mongering from ex-CEO. We all know that robots will be here regardless of what the minimum wage is.

superobserver 10y ago
I'd rather see forward-looking companies replace their CEO's with AI.

nitwit005 10y ago

McDonnalds is paying even higher costs than that in other countries and hasn't done it. We have fully automated pizza making machines, but you still see plenty of people in pizza shops. The economics clearly don't work out in favor of full automation at the moment.

joezydeco 10y ago

I was at the very same restaurant show this week as Rensi mentions in the article. The only robot he could have possibly have been referring to was a Baxter robot that Middleby Corp set up as an attention-getting gimmick. It was not an actual product for sale. You can see for yourself here. https://twitter.com/WeRRestaurants/status/605484681245499393 https://twitter.com/WeRRestaurants/status/605484681245499393 It was also at the show last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPwjG-CnLgA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPwjG-CnLgA Automated kitchen technology is way more primitive than this...for multiple reasons.

tzm 10y ago
Asia is far ahead of the game.. http://www.parentherald.com/articles/42018/20160508/artificial-intelligence-invades-fast-food-how-ai-technology-could-change-way-humans-dine.htm http://www.parentherald.com/articles/42018/20160508/artifici...

Aaargh20318 10y ago

Good, this means that fewer people have to work, which should be humanity's goal. I don't get this fetish with working. We should decouple labor from income and try to get rid of as many jobs as possible.

betaby 10y ago
How to deliver that idea to elites? They own land /capital / intellectual property , robots are not different.
lujim 10y ago
If you decouple labor (or work, productivity, whatever) from income how do we know who gets what? I can only speak for myself but I wouldn't want to live only at the bare minimum UBI stipend.
- Aaargh20318 10y ago
  > If you decouple labor (or work, productivity, whatever) from income how do we know who gets what? It's already mostly decoupled anyway. The 1% don't actually perform any labour yet they get most of the money created by people who actually do the work. The only thing I'm proposing is a better distribution of wealth and free time.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

pm24601 10y ago

CEOs have been replacing workers with machines since the start of the industrial revolution. Calling the machines "robots" is just a different label for the same-old-same-old. P.S. they have also been crying about the minimum wage as a "job destroyer" since it was introduced a century ago.

aexaey 10y ago

"Robot rebellion" in fast-food industry has already quietly happened. Those robots are called "vending machine". There is even a moderately successful fast-food chain in the Netherlands that have fully embraced this "rebellion" some 70 years ago, and they are still going strong [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEBO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEBO

VOYD 10y ago

People still "eat" at McD's?

mdrzn 10y ago
Now more than ever it seems http://www.ibtimes.com/mcdonalds-corporation-mcd-q1-2016-profit-expected-rise-revenue-projected-drop-2357882 http://www.ibtimes.com/mcdonalds-corporation-mcd-q1-2016-pro...