Hardly. The cost will be less than a months wages for the average employee. Computers are cheap.
One would think, but it doesn’t work that way. It will have to be built sturdy to handle thousands of people, some of whom are really dumb.
Whatever the cost of computer and display is, it is guaranteed that it will go down over time, while the cost of human labor will go up.
Even if the systems aren’t that much cheaper than humans, the ones we are seeing now are just pilot rollouts, to get people used to them, and to iron out the bugs. In a year, they will be in every fast food place.
The next step will be a mobile app where you can put in your order, and pay for it using your phone. As you roll up to the pickup window, wave your phone and your order will appear at the window.
Actually, it’s already there. All they have to do is just turn the screens around so they face the customer. They already had to make the terminals idjit proof, so just eliminate one idjit and let the idjit customers press the touch screen. Orders will probably be more correct than having the counter idjit have to translate/understand the customer’s order, then press the touch screen. Just eliminating the middle man/idjit.