With all the talk of minimum wage increases in the food service industry the topic of automation has been increasingly discussed as a way for business to recur the money that would be lost in revenue do to said wage hikes. In a way I think that automation is good for the food service industry and will be implemented in the future, as it will be increasing for all trades top to bottom as technology advances and gets cheaper for what it can do. But my question is two fold; A - at what level of automation do you believe will be implemented in say the next twenty years (Im sure in 500 years things will be advanced enough its not out of the question to have a machine that is mobile and can prepare and serve you food, cleaning the mess when you are done.) B - at what level of automation do you believe the average person will tolerate when it comes to not dealing with people in the food service industry (expecting more of an opinionated response regarding the nature of humans more than pinning an exact number In my opinion : A - I think the level of automation for the typical food service establishment will be smaller and slower than most estimate, say 20 percent of workers or 1 in 5 can be replaced with automation in the next 20 years and a business be expected to keep the customer satisfied and coming back. The logistics will be a problem that our current technology will not be able accomplish in the manner people assume, if I am wrong on this I am interested in seeing the technology in a realistic, currently ready to implement, and affordable example. You can automate the cooking of the burgers, ie. a machine that can put burgers on a grill, turn them ,and take them off is realistic; and could replace a worker who does just that in a fast food restaurant. I have worked fast food and the grill is usually designed to be operated by one person, a food service industry that would have a larger grill manned by say two people that could be replaced by this automation would benefit more, but would obviously be already profitable enough to budget that extra expense. Im not sure the preparing of the burger, which will be demanding and detailed, can be done with non military grade and priced current tech more than it already is with the help of the live computer system tracking the orders. Technology has probably already effected the food service industry more than people acknowledge, as in people have already been replaced by tech at a pretty good level. B - in my opinion the average person will only tolerate automation so far at our current technology levels, being very minimal. Im not sure if the average American is ready to have to deal with that level of stress upon engaging with a computer to get your fast food. Im simple, I just order what they have, humans screw that up and I can either complain to myself and eat what I was given, or spend two minutes going back and correcting the order currently. I will bash your machine if it pissed me off, not sure I have the time or patience to convince a dispensing machine its wrong ........ And Im not 90 percent of people who are going to tack on 10 variables to a basic order, my health and consistence is fine lol. Not sure Im going to deal with some machine if its glitchy and im in a hurry, im going to break it because its stealing my time and money ect ect. Thats why I think even automation will have a minimal effect on the operation of a fast food establishment in regards to human staffing. 20% reduction in workforce is a lot, but its a long way from full automation and 1 minimum wage employee might not justify a machine to replace him. Also interested to know peoples opinion or examples of other things automation can do besides maybe cook the burgers and put them in the slide for use or the same for fry's. Not sure what all those people are doing in there but usually there are only one or two cooks no matter the size or volume of a fast food restaurant. As I stated above the grill and fryer and usually designed to be operated by one person, unless you have an example of a high volume and profitable restaurant that can already afford a luxury expense like that.
Not being an expert... A: Within 20 years, I expect at least half of fast food jobs to be automated. There are videos out now for a variety of robot cooks with different levels of sophistication, some remarkably so. Obvious they are not ready for mass production, but that fact that we have this kind of sophisticated articulation already is promising. B: If it makes the food cheaper, or get it to them faster, Americans (and most people worldwide) don't care if its made by a robot or not. They might even prefer it. Robots do not spit in food, or worse. And they probably make it the same every time, so if you like it once you will probably like the food a similar amount the next time you visit RoboBurgerShack. Consistency is a plus.
Certainly possible within the drive thru world, but I suspect that if more sit-down type establishments were to do it, they would lose their customers. Why pay $40 to go out to dinner just to get something you could make at home? The atmosphere of chatting with the waitress, etc., are part of the whole experience.
The food would still be better than you could cook yourself at home, unless you had a chefbot. As for the personal touch of the waitress, well you got me there. That human touch doesn't matter much to me, though.
You are wrong about that. I am a very good cook as a matter of fact. As for the other, people don't go to Hooters for the fries.
You pay for the food and tip for the service. In the US most waiters and waitresses get paid $2.13/hr. They are well worth what the restaurant pays them, their real earnings come from tips.
The food service industry has been automating for over a hundred years, most of that being low wage years, so the argument that raising minimum wage will cause some big increase is a bogus argument, and that goes for any industry; wages have been stagnant for decades now, and automation has been ongoing regardless and has from the beginning of the industrial revolution. It's a red herring 'talking point'. Fast prices rose anyway; that's because other prices are bigger factors than wages are. Find the history of meat prices since Reagan allowed the meat packers to ship in Mexican laborers as scabs to bust the meat packer unions and see if you can find some big decrease in wholesale and retail prices after the unions were busted. Prices continued upward for the next 3+ years. So much for the myth that raising minimum wage is the reason behind high food prices or any other inflation driven prices. Doubling fast food workers' wages would add maybe 18 cents to the lowest priced items on Mickey D's menus, i.e a $1 drink plus a $1 McMuffin or whatever. The percentage increase in costs adds far less a percentage the bigger the order gets, practically nothing on a $5 meal combo and the like.
Well, wages haven't increased, yet when we went to the local El Fenix our bill for two sit down meals still ran close to $20; it certainly wasn't wage increases for food workers that drove prices that high over the last 30 years.
What was a food supplier making 30 years ago; how much were insurance premiums 30 years ago; how much did it cost to build that store 30 years ago (have no idea what El Fenix is but I am assuming a Mexican chain)?
In inflation adjusted dollars less than they are now, while wages are even lower. Wages haven't risen nearly as fast as inflation.
I seriously doubt that commercial real estate is much more the bargain today than it was 30 years ago.
Why? I rented a three bedroom brick house with large garage for $90 a month while in college, which was more expensive in adjusted dollars than the same thing renting for $600-$700 a month now in the same area. Utilities and the like are far more expensive, food about the same or cheaper relatively, but with the lower real wages today they seem more expensive, and they are relative to incomes and wages.
Agree... as a cook.. I don't want robot food. Hell.. I can get supermarket microwave stuff. I'd boycott a fast food place that's robotized.
