The Scary Robotisation of The Fast-Food Industry
It’s a science fiction nightmare. Robots gradually replacing humans.
Luckily, there’s no Terminators roaming the streets. Nonetheless, several major fast-food brands have adopted robots into their workforce, which in turn, has replaced the need for human labour.
These robots possess a range of different skills. Some can quickly fry up, a golden batch of fries. Others can nicely decorate pepperoni pizzas. In fact, some can bake you a crispy, gently salted, tortilla chip.
This article explores the growing prominence of automated robots in fast food industry, and the issues it presents.
Fast-Food Chains Using Robots:
The reason why more fast-food chains are installing robots is simple, it lowers their costs.
Not only do Robots lower companies costs, but they’re quicker and more efficient. And, they don’t call in sick when they don’t feel like coming to work.
Miso Robotics is a technology company that manufactures fully automated robots for fast-food restaurants.
Their leading product is Filppy. A robotic fry cook that can independently operate a frying station. Filppy has been adopted by several American Fast-Food chains.
White Castle, Chipotle and Buffalo Wild Wings have adopted Filppy machines into their production process. As you can imagine, Filppy serves different purposes at each Fast-Food restaurant.
White Castle is renowned for their juicy hamburgers. Filppy helps out by flipping beef patties, and frying batches of french fries.
It’s a different story at Chipotle. Over there, Filppy bakes crispy tortilla chips. The perfect complement for a meaty burrito.
Will Robots Replace Human Fast-Food Workers?
One of the biggest questions people have regarding robots, is whether or not they have the ability to take away the jobs done by humans?
The short answer is yes. Robots do have the ability to take away humans jobs, and it’s already happening.
Rob Carpenter CEO of AI company, Valyant AI. Predicts that in the next 5–10 years AI will rapidly replace food servers jobs.
Rob further explained, that AI has already established itself in the fast-food industry. Self -service kiosks have become increasingly popular in several fast-food restaurants, thus customers have already begun familiarising themselves with AI software.
The thought of AI taking over humans jobs can seem scary, but we should remember, that there’s still a strong demand for fast-food workers.
Nonetheless, AI is developing at an incredible pace. A fully automated fast-food experience, could be right round the corner.
The Lack Of Human Touch
The era where restaurants are fully automated is upon us. But perhaps one of the major concerns is the lack of human touch that the restaurants will possess.
There’s an energetic ambience that inhabits restaurants ran by humans. The buzz of workers, patrolling the restaurant floor. The social interaction between customer and employee.
The fast-food industry is not a industry where the in-house experience is of the most importance. But, a fully automated, non-human run restaurant, would feel dull and emotionless.
Economically speaking, robots are an fantastic investment. Quick, productive and cost effective. But perhaps we should consider the social consequences, before we implement them.
