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If you think that a McDonalds will be run by one person in the next 20 years, I would wager you haven't worked at one. Unless you develop a robot that can scrub
by greedo 10y ago
If you think that a McDonalds will be run by one person in the next 20 years, I would wager you haven't worked at one. Unless you develop a robot that can scrub build-up from a urinal, unplug a toilet that was overflowing with feces and toilet paper, scrape ice off a sidewalk, wash a window, test a burger patty for the correct internal temperature, scrub built up scum off the inside of an ice machine, and dust off the plants in the lobby, all at a reasonable price, then no, we won't have robotic fast food with 1 employee. There are a world of single role task that robotics can handle, but there's also innumerable tasks that a human is better suited to handle, despite being menial jobs.
This fantasy that AI/robotics/self-driving vehicles is just around the corner is like fusion power - perpetually 15 years in the future. It'll happen, eventually Moore's law will make it possible, but it's not as close as people think.
And your comment about "The faster we tip the scale" is almost inhumane considering the impact. It needs to get worse before it can get better? I suppose that goes with "Never let a crisis go to waste..."
- muaddirac 10y agoI think the McDonalds of the future may look more like a vending machine than a restaurant. Of the the things you listed, only "test a burger patty for the correct internal temperature" is actually related to producing McDonalds food, and that is certainly automatable. But that aside, if all that's left is basic cleaning then McDonalds could simply contract a cleaning service. I'd guess that a single team could service at least 10 fast food restaurants a day. And then how many years before running the cleaning service only requires one person?
- peteretep 10y agoI can imagine someone running a horse-and-cart shop saying the same thing 20 years before cars. But who'll clean up the horse shit?
- greedo 10y agoHorses went away, so did their shit; people in the form of customers will still need to be cleaned up after.