Posted on 09/18/2024 3:30:57 PM PDT by CFW
It's official! - Robots are replacing humans.
Chipotle restaurants in California have introduced two robots to replace human workers in an effort to slash labor costs in response to the state-mandated $20 minimum wage. The first robot called the "autocato" can peel, stone, and cut an avocado, and then turn it into guacamole in 26 seconds. The other robot dubbed the "digital makeline" has the ability to portion salads and bowls based on orders from the mobile app.
The robots are part of an automation push that Chipotle's executives think could reduce the number of employees and help lower rising labor costs, as reported by the Daily Mail. The machines are currently being used at restaurant locations in Huntington Beach and Corona del Mar.
The controversial $20 minimum wage hike signed into law by Gov. Newsom took effect on April 1, which immediately sparked mass layoffs and permanent business closures. Burger King and other chains have already reduced the number of cashiers by rolling out digital ordering terminals in their Golden State locations.
(Excerpt) Read more at thepostmillennial.com ...
“ Why pay people to make crappy food when a robot can make perfectly equally crappy food?”
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That’s right. But they need to be absolutely sure that the robots always wash their hands throughly after they go to the bathroom.
^^^ $4.05
“never ate there. especially after people started getting sick there a while ago.”
Neither have I. But, I don’t eat out often and when I do it is at one of the “Mom&Pop” local diners in one of the small towns nearby. I believe Chipotle’s does Mexican-type food. There is a small restaurant a few miles away from me that makes their Mexican dishes from scratch and the place is locally-owned.
It takes a bit for your meal to be served but that’s because it is made from scratch. It’s worth the wait.
I swore off “fast-food” places a couple of decades ago when the videos of the workers spitting (and other things) on food first started being shown.
My son used to work there. He hated it. He’d have been thrilled to be replaced by a robot.
I’m with you on that.
Robots’ union coming.
I don’t know why $5.05 is better for the cashier than $4.05. Maybe the cash drawer has plenty of fives in it, but it might have a lot of ones right then. You never know.
This would have happened eventually even without the spiraling minimum wages, getting artificially raised by governments. This legislation merely serves to hasten the process.
It will be interesting to see how society evolves when robots are doing most of the menial labor (and eventually even skilled labor).
Elon Musk seems to think we will go to a universal income. But with no incentive to be productive in society due to having all our basic needs met, what will become of humans?
It was inevitable but they hurried it along. Robots don’t call in sick, they”ll work 18 hour days, they don’t gossip or talk back, don’t drink on the job or show up hungover, they don’t sue or get injured on the job (if they are it can be fixed) and eventually they will multitask. But it sounds like these robots are more like assembly line work replacement, similar to what is used in automotive industry. They just do one thing over and over.
Will it save money? That is an honest and open question. It will require maintenance and energy resources. But even if it is breakeven (for now - eventually they will be cost effective) it’s better that it’s reliable and responsive and requires little human interaction. Less humanity of course but also without human frailty and human troubles. It’s unfortunate in many ways, but also was inevitable. Just hurried along by wage laws.
People talk about $20 per hour but it’s more like $35 per hour to the employer when you include workers comp insurance, payroll taxes and the hassle factor.
Terminator due soon. Machines will run things.
But of course these lawmakers have lots of money invested in robotics companies.
According to a report by the National Restaurant Association, the average profit margin for fast food restaurants is around 5-8%. This means that for every dollar of sales, the restaurant earns 5-8 cents in profit. However, some fast food chains have profit margins as high as 20%.
The restaurant food prices are about 40% higher than what I pay in Florida.
We were in Orlando and then Tampa/Clearwater for a couple weeks and we could not believe how cheap everything was. From Chipotle (our girls had to have it one night) to chick fillet. Everything in CA is expensive. EVERYTHING. And the roads suck here in CA. And gas is expensive as all hell.
Have you eaten there?
Something of the sort was inevitable. The minimum wage business just speeded up the process.
Can’t wait until the get the robot to put one dollop of guacamole at one end of the burrito, one dollop of sour cream at the other, one dollop of beans and one dollop of meat next to each other in the center... just like the humans!
Brainiacs in CA couldn’t see this coming.
What a super idea...Can we replace politicians with robots? Probably not as they’re already programmed! No difference.
Yes and Qdoba. They don’t make Mexican fast food better, they make it worse. I’ll either go to Taco Bell if I want fast food or to a local Mexican restaurant for good Mexican food.
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