4 ms·

This was the natural progression. Not sure why the outrage. For those workers there, it’s a pretty good job for a pretty good pay (locally).

ada1981 5y ago
Soon to be remote controlled robots doing all sorts of things benefiting from geo-arbitrage. One of the main reasons capital needs labor to be fixed, so it can exploit wage gradients.
- hemloc_io 5y ago
  We originally thought that robotic arms would be used for surgery but instead they'll be used to put tater tots in the microwave for 3$ a day so we don't have to pay service workers. Closer and closer to a cyberpunk future every day lol.
  - chitowneats 5y ago
    They are used for surgery. The fact that the cost of the technology is decreasing towards the point it can be economically used for tot preparation is a feature, not a bug.
    - UncleEntity 5y ago
      …unless you are the one making tots today and you really love the work.
  - thrownblown 5y ago
    it's not just the wage worker they wont be paying, it's also the taxes and the costs of compliance and hr for large scale orgs.
- failedengineer 5y ago
  Isn't this a thing on some university campus? I seem to recall robots being driven by Colombians delivering cafeteria food to res.
  - ada1981 5y ago
    Would love to read more about this.
    - failedengineer 5y ago
      https://www.techidence.com/kiwibots-are-not-fully-autonomous-and-are-controlled-by-operators-in-colombia/ https://www.techidence.com/kiwibots-are-not-fully-autonomous... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_Campus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_Campus
aperson_hello 5y ago
Yeah - That's something like double the average income in Nicaragua ($650/month vs. $340 average and $230 minimum wage). That's a pretty decent local wage and will help drive additional money into the local economy in Nicaragua. There's outrage around taking jobs from locals in Toronto, but you could do that with fully automated ordering as well (I've run into this in multiple fast food settings in recent times!).
- failedengineer 5y ago
  I find the smartphone app menu model vastly superior to the others. I can take 10 minutes to get an order sorted out (ordering with a family takes far longer than a solo order), and I don't slow down the line of people in onesies-and-twosies who already know exactly what they want. From my perspective, screen-based ordering from multiple kiosks with one or two cashiers is the only way forward, and although from a labour perspective it sucks for locals, it's almost definite that as the number of cashiers required goes down to below one per store, there will be a move to remote models with centralized resources (cashiers assigned to multiple stores) basically acting as intermediaries for the kiosks. It's not even a wage or working conditions issue, it's a labour requirement issue.
  - Mountain_Skies 5y ago
    The phone app model is also better from a public health perspective. Having hundreds of people use the same touchscreen kiosk is a vector for spreading infection, especially since it is used right before eating.
- UncleEntity 5y ago
  > There's outrage around taking jobs from locals in Toronto… Assuming they can even find someone to fill the position. I know from traveling around the states there is a significant problem in getting people to work in restaurants as they can just go down the street and get an entry level ‘career’.
  - aperson_hello 5y ago

ada1981 5y ago

Soon to be remote controlled robots doing all sorts of things benefiting from geo-arbitrage. One of the main reasons capital needs labor to be fixed, so it can exploit wage gradients.

hemloc_io 5y ago
We originally thought that robotic arms would be used for surgery but instead they'll be used to put tater tots in the microwave for 3$ a day so we don't have to pay service workers. Closer and closer to a cyberpunk future every day lol.
- chitowneats 5y ago
  They are used for surgery. The fact that the cost of the technology is decreasing towards the point it can be economically used for tot preparation is a feature, not a bug.
  - UncleEntity 5y ago
    …unless you are the one making tots today and you really love the work.
- thrownblown 5y ago
  it's not just the wage worker they wont be paying, it's also the taxes and the costs of compliance and hr for large scale orgs.
failedengineer 5y ago
Isn't this a thing on some university campus? I seem to recall robots being driven by Colombians delivering cafeteria food to res.
- ada1981 5y ago
  Would love to read more about this.
  - failedengineer 5y ago
    https://www.techidence.com/kiwibots-are-not-fully-autonomous-and-are-controlled-by-operators-in-colombia/ https://www.techidence.com/kiwibots-are-not-fully-autonomous... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_Campus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_Campus

aperson_hello 5y ago

Yeah - That's something like double the average income in Nicaragua ($650/month vs. $340 average and $230 minimum wage). That's a pretty decent local wage and will help drive additional money into the local economy in Nicaragua. There's outrage around taking jobs from locals in Toronto, but you could do that with fully automated ordering as well (I've run into this in multiple fast food settings in recent times!).

failedengineer 5y ago
I find the smartphone app menu model vastly superior to the others. I can take 10 minutes to get an order sorted out (ordering with a family takes far longer than a solo order), and I don't slow down the line of people in onesies-and-twosies who already know exactly what they want. From my perspective, screen-based ordering from multiple kiosks with one or two cashiers is the only way forward, and although from a labour perspective it sucks for locals, it's almost definite that as the number of cashiers required goes down to below one per store, there will be a move to remote models with centralized resources (cashiers assigned to multiple stores) basically acting as intermediaries for the kiosks. It's not even a wage or working conditions issue, it's a labour requirement issue.
- Mountain_Skies 5y ago
  The phone app model is also better from a public health perspective. Having hundreds of people use the same touchscreen kiosk is a vector for spreading infection, especially since it is used right before eating.
UncleEntity 5y ago
> There's outrage around taking jobs from locals in Toronto… Assuming they can even find someone to fill the position. I know from traveling around the states there is a significant problem in getting people to work in restaurants as they can just go down the street and get an entry level ‘career’.
- aperson_hello 5y ago