McDonald's To Make AI Drive-Thrus In Partnership With IBM

[adarw]

 

Summary

McDonald's basically wants to make a Siri (IBM and McDonald's are calling it Automated Order Taking (AOT) technology) for their drive thru. They are contracting IBM for the AI training. McDonald's also is selling McD Tech Labs to IBM which was an AI company McDonald's's acquired in 2019. They have already tested it in 10 Chicago mcdonads, while it seem to be efficient, it does need work

 

Quotes

Quote

McDonald's is aiming to revolutionize the drive-thru industry, entering a strategic partnership with tech company IBM to fully automate their drive-thrus using AI. In a joint statement released by the two companies, they state the move will advance the deployment of IBM’s Automated Order Taking service, reducing the need for human customer service when grabbing a Big Mac in the car. 

The deal covers an agreement where IBM will also acquire McD Tech Labs, a company formerly called Apprente that was bought by McDonalds in 2019.  

“In my mind, IBM is the ideal partner for McDonald’s given their expertise in building AI-powered customer care solutions and voice recognition,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said on an earnings call, reports CNBC. 

 

My thoughts

where are teenagers going to work lol

 

Sources

https://www.iflscience.com/technology/mcdonalds-to-make-ai-drivethrus-in-partnership-with-ibm/

https://newsroom.ibm.com/Joint-Statement-from-McDonalds-and-IBM

https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/mcdonalds-acquires-ai-tech-company-apprente/562595/

[Arika]

the humans behind those god-awful speakers can barely hear my order correctly at the best of times, i don't see voice recognitionI doing any better.

[poochyena]

15 minutes ago, adarw said:

where are teenagers going to work lol

in a perfect world, no where, so they can focus on their education

 

 

[Techstorm970]

[Jeskspie]

1 minute ago, Techstorm970 said:

I couldn't find the funny in this

[Murasaki]

Day 1: "I want 3 big macs."

AI: "Order of 3 iMacs coming right up!"

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, adarw said:

where are teenagers going to work lol

Seen stats a few years ago. Back in the day like 70% of kids got in to the work force, now days its more like 30 or 40%. With the advent of Youtube and Cameras, and videos of Karen jumping over the counter. No one wants those jobs to begin with. 

[bcredeur97]

it's going to be so hard to get on your feet and start doing something for yourself in the future. People are going to become so dependent on being funded by like governments and such it actually kind of makes me sad. I love tech but I think this kinda stuff hurts society as a whole more than it helps. 

I hope I'm not being to political with this.. I don't want to start a fire. It's just nice to have opportunities to prove yourself at something and provide for yourself. Life is kinda boring otherwise. 

[poochyena]

1 minute ago, bcredeur97 said:

it actually kind of makes me sad.

...what? A future without work SADDENS you?

[adarw]

5 minutes ago, poochyena said:

...what? A future without work SADDENS you?

a future where no one has money except the 1% 

a future  where most humans are stupided by online brainwashing

a future where if humans dont have a phone they get paranoid

[Fasterthannothing]

The wage hikes and staff shortages are the reason for this imho. This was inevitable though either way with or without the pandemic causing the aforementioned issues just look at the touchscreen and app enabled ordering systems and automated burger making machines. Just like how people don't do the same jobs they did 50 or 100 years ago people won't be doing the same jobs in the future.

[Fasterthannothing]

5 minutes ago, poochyena said:

...what? A future without work SADDENS you?

Uh yeah people weren't made to sit on their rear end all day. Working gives people pride and accomplishment and freedom.

[suicidalfranco]

30 minutes ago, poochyena said:

...what? A future without work SADDENS you?

a future without work i equate it to a future without purpose 

[poochyena]

35 minutes ago, SlidewaysZ said:

Uh yeah people weren't made to sit on their rear end all day. Working gives people pride and accomplishment and freedom.

this is definitely sarcasm, right? Or do you not know about office jobs?

 

38 minutes ago, adarw said:

a future where no one has money except the 1% 

a future  where most humans are stupided by online brainwashing

a future where if humans dont have a phone they get paranoid

None of that is related to a future without work.

11 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

a future without work i equate it to a future without purpose 

Thats just plain sad to have no purpose outside work. Go out into the world and make some friends, start a family, do volunteer work, create something.

[Donut417]

54 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

t's going to be so hard to get on your feet and start doing something for yourself in the future.

If you're 18 and have a pulse a lot of warehouses will hire you. Retailers still need people. Little mom and pop businesses. Mowing of lawns, washing of cars, etc. Uber, Lyft, Gubhub are always looking for people. As I said in my post, Kids at least in the US are not working, school has become more important. 

[adarw]

1 minute ago, Donut417 said:

Little mom and pop businesses.

those will barely exist in the future.

2 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

washing of cars

self serving carwashing has been a big thing that wont go away

3 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Uber, Lyft, Gubhub are always looking for people

self driving cars will take over at some point in the near future, and yes its already a thing in testing.

4 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Retailers still need people

well yes, they also are reducing as many people as possible, take for example self serving checkout.

[TempestCatto]

With people not wanting to work these rather terrible jobs, and demand for these "products" being at an all time high, I'd reckon robots of some sort will take over most of these places. You'll still probably need a few humans for awhile yet. But as for order taking and cooking, I think some sort of automation is about to start popping up. It does take away from someone who needs a job (anything to just get by) but at the same time, you can't pay people in those positions enough. The job and the environment are just horrible. Not to mention most of the time you're order has something wrong because when I say "Diet Coke" they think I mean Sprite. I guess we'll see what the future holds. But if you're good at making automation in food-service, you're about to be a helluva lot richer.

[adarw]

11 minutes ago, TempestCatto said:

But if you're good at making automation in food-service, you're about to be a helluva lot richer.

it was mcdonalds who started making "fast food" fast food was probably their only competitive advantage but now countless others followed with fast food. mcdonads simply wants to make food even faster i guess.

[Donut417]

21 minutes ago, adarw said:

self serving carwashing has been a big thing that wont go away

Yeah but you have to drive to one. A kid could show up at your house and wash your car.  Even detail the inside if you wish. 

 

21 minutes ago, adarw said:

self driving cars will take over at some point in the near future, and yes its already a thing in testing.

Key word is testing. It will be DECADES before they are allowed. Just because they can work right now, doesnt mean the Government is going to allow it. Rules and regulations will need to be written. Considering the age of the average congressman, its going to take a lot of convincing.

 

23 minutes ago, adarw said:

well yes, they also are reducing as many people as possible, take for example self serving checkout.

They are reducing people for the same reason fast food is. They cant find people to take those jobs. Here in the US fast food workers and retail employees are punching bags most of the time. 

 

The other thing you have to understand is here in the US, due to stagnate wages and the younger generations being under a lot of student loan debt, many chose to not have kids or have fewer kids. The population is shrinking. So many of these jobs will go unfilled regardless of what happens. Its going to be a interesting future when all the old people retire and die. Because there are whole job fields that are pretty much going to go unfilled and thats not going to be a good thing. 

[poochyena]

50 minutes ago, adarw said:

those will barely exist in the future.

There are over 4 million active Etsy shops. Nearly all of them can be considered "mom and pop" and thats just Etsy alone. To suggest they will barely exist in the future is completely unfounded.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, adarw said:

those will barely exist in the future.

Forgot to comment on this one. I work for a company that sells trophy supplies, engravables and sign supplies. Most of our customers work out of their homes or have a small shop. Today the company literally made $800,000. All from little mom and pop shops. We average $600,000 most days. We have customers who spend millions with us, hell our Million dollar Canadian customer places an order 2 pallets 84 inches tall 1,200lbs per skid. We get that order like every other week. 

 

Oh and I got home today and there was pizza. From a local MOM AND POP pizza joint in our city. And it was GOOOOOOOOOD. 

[bcredeur97]

2 hours ago, poochyena said:

...what? A future without work SADDENS you?

Yes, yes it does.

 

i think the view on work highly depends on your perspective!
 

I view Work as a good thing. Without it think of how boring life would be. What would you even live for? There are things out there for you to accomplish! And by accomplishing those tasks you get rewarded. Look beyond the money aspect, and think of how every individual worker is a contributor that keeps the world moving. In a way, all 7 billion people on earth are a giant team. By working you contribute to society. 

[poochyena]

6 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

What would you even live for?

That absolutely terrifies me that you think working for McDonalds would be the only thing worth living for. Normal people out there thinking about traveling, getting a better education, starting a family, writing a book, creating art, etc. But here you are, can't imagine how you could even live without a job at McDonalds.
If working at McDonalds was the only reason to live for every McDonalds employee, suicide rates would be at 99% at that job. Practically no one works at McDonalds because they enjoy it. This idea that the world would be worse off without jobs people hate is some serious "i'm 14 and this is deep" stuff.

[bcredeur97]

11 minutes ago, poochyena said:

That absolutely terrifies me that you think working for McDonalds would be the only thing worth living for. Normal people out there thinking about traveling, getting a better education, starting a family, writing a book, creating art, etc. But here you are, can't imagine how you could even live without a job at McDonalds.
If working at McDonalds was the only reason to live for every McDonalds employee, suicide rates would be at 99% at that job. Practically no one works at McDonalds because they enjoy it. This idea that the world would be worse off without jobs people hate is some serious "i'm 14 and this is deep" stuff.

That’s not my point though. McDonald’s is a valid stepping stone towards a career.

 

your time there proves that you are capable of working. It’s somewhere you go first whilst chasing a goal.

 

having goals is not something everyone does but you SHOULD do. Only you control your future nothing is just given to you. 
 

you should be motivated to work at McDonald’s while you’re on the path to something else. Not stuck there with nothing else to do

[poochyena]

42 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

McDonald’s is a valid stepping stone towards a career.

fast food is the very definition of a dead-end job.

44 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

you should be motivated to work at McDonald’s while you’re on the path to something else.

why?

44 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

Not stuck there with nothing else to do

But you are. You have a goal, but there you are, stuck at McDonalds.