First, the statement above makes it sound like this is a race rather than one that looks at relative cost of doing something. There are places in the US where labor rates are such that ditches are dug by hand. While I was in college, I had a summer job where I dug ditches for the fingers of septic systems by hand after a back hoe dug the basic trench. The ditches had to be finished by hand because they were required to fall 1/8"/foot and that couldn't be done as cheaply with machines. (There are laser-guided machines that can do it, but small contractors can't afford those machines, so many still dig them by hand.) Comparative costs are always important and speed is only one consideration.
Second, your initial statement didn't say anything about excluding third world countries, yet you made a blanket statement without qualifying it. Also, kiosks have been around for decades and I'm sure McDonald's has long disliked the hassles of dealing with minimum wage workers. Guess what finally pushed them over the edge to substitute kiosks for labor?
I am for automation but I HATE OFFSHORING. Offshoring is killing the heart of the economy - manufacturing. Nobody seems to care. Automate all you want just do it here!!!