Wendy’s Begins Replacing Workers with Artificial Intelligence – America’s Workforce is in Big Trouble

The DC Patriot ^ | May 15, 2023 | Brick Tamland

[cba123]

In a development straight out of a dystopian sci-fi thriller, fast food giant Wendy’s has embarked on a chilling experiment, replacing its drive-through order takers with an AI chatbot powered by Google software. This technological takeover aims to streamline the ordering process by training the AI to understand customer requests and decrease waiting times at the drive-throughs.

According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Wendy’s is set to launch this eerie transformation in its home state of Ohio, starting with locations in Columbus. The company plans to implement the change in June, all in the name of shorter lines and faster service, as declared by Chief Executive Todd Penegor.

(Please see link for full story)

[1Old Pro]

Wendy’s has embarked on a chilling experiment, replacing its drive-through order takers with an AI chatbot

Chilling or simply smart business?

[ThePatriotsFlag]

Walked in...I faced a computer screen with a menu and a slot for my credit card....walked out.

[khelus]

Re:AI “service” equals phone menu “intelligence”

###

My interactions with AI show it is definitely A but not very I.

[SaveFerris]

[Artificial Intelligence]

[SaveFerris]

Imagine ordering food on an Airplane!

(can’t find the right gif)

[mosaicwolf]

".......training the AI to understand customer requests and decrease waiting times at the drive-throughs."

Probably better than the uneducated high school graduates that don't understand English.

[Myrddin]

GPT4 is a static database. Nothing new entered for many years. Competitors are building live databases now. I'm not inclined to jump on that bandwagon, but it is important to not operate in a disadvantaged position if your competitors are using AI against you. It remains to be seen if we have a competitive marketplace where the best mouse trap wins or a government controlled marketplace where no competition is allowed and there is one government approved mouse trap. The Europeans tend to embrace the latter model. Americans have preferred the competitive approach. Will AI result in finding the best approach to each problem leaving no room for a creative competitor to find a better way? I'm reminded of a quip from my population biology professor: In a world of blind men, the one-eyed man is king. Do we reach a point where we lack the capacity to outperform the AI solution?

[matt04]

You beat me to it. That is the massive driving factor behind all of this. Having some sort of AI for ordertaking is a lot less complex than some robot cook. As soon as that technology developed more, it will appear rapidly.

[crusty old prospector]

[upchuck]

That sound you hear is Dave Thomas rolling over in his grave.

[ro_dreaming]

McDonald’s has a 100% automated restaurant here in Texas, IIRC.

All fast food will be that way in the future, even when Taco Bell wins the franchise wars.

[SuperLuminal]

For Wendy’s, the breakthrough was the newly designed AI capability to spit...

[Spktyr]

A concept popularized in the US during 1920s and 30s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylcRW0CIx3c

Basically, what we’d know as a vending machine style wall in front of a kitchen. Kitchen staff would make food and place it in slots in the ‘vending machine’ - people would insert a coin, open the door and remove food. The concept still exists today in the original form as well as the modern standalone vending machine with prepackaged food but there are increasingly more examples where there are no humans behind the wall and it’s all automation making fresh food.

[Spktyr]

Bad news - due to staffing issues in Heaven, God has implemented order kiosks... :P

[Spktyr]

Yeah, but the restaurant won’t be successfully charged, which is the part important to the restaurant. :P

[dfwgator]

Now with more *MOLECULES*!

[EBH]

UBI via your CBDC of course.

[Penelope Dreadful]

Yeah! Take that, you crybabies! You ought to be able to live on less than $15 per hour! And, you get a whole 28 hour work week too! Why that is a whole $420 per week before FICA! Who couldn’t live on less than that in 2023 America! Serves you right!

Oh wait - “As President and CEO at WENDY’S CO, Todd A. Penegor made $9,669,733 in total compensation. Of this total $1,084,521 was received as a salary, $3,300,000 was received as a bonus, $2,099,997 was received in stock options, $3,149,977 was awarded as stock and $35,238 came from other types of compensation. This information is according to proxy statements filed for the 2021 fiscal year.”

Hmmm. Well maybe Penegor couldn’t live on that. Never mind.

[central_va]

The push for automation has nothing to do with the spot price of unskilled labor. It would happen regardless, whether the minimum wage was $10 or $100 per hour.

[central_va]

A high tech vending machine. Big deal.