In Manufacturing and Retail, Robot Labor is Cheaper Than Slave Labor Would Be

Re:In Manufacturing and Retail, Robot Labor is Cheaper Than ... by lohi on Friday March 17, 2017 @10:49AM (#13894348)

Oh, I don't think it will work in the US (at least not initially). Americans are accustomed to a certain level of service, in part because of cheap labor. I remember standing behind an American family at McDonald's and their order was just on another level, very specific. Nothing wrong with that, they are getting their money's worth, just different expectations.

We've had automated ordering at local chains in Sweden for 10 years, both in store and on your phone [0]. And more recently also at McDonald's. But you're expected to do a lot of things yourself here. This goes back at least to the '70s with the explicit idea to increase wages and production [1].

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FyPqoT1yp4&t=60s [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehn%E2%80%93Meidner_model

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Re:In Manufacturing and Retail, Robot Labor is Cheaper Than ... by fapjacks on Friday March 17, 2017 @01:13PM (#13895796)

I've never been in a Max Burger place that didn't have humans also taking orders.

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Re:In Manufacturing and Retail, Robot Labor is Cheaper Than ... by lohi on Friday March 17, 2017 @02:22PM (#13896545)

The one at way out west might have been without human ordering [0]. But since you still need humans to make and compile the food it might not make sense to have automated serving. And since you have people serving they might as well take orders under normal conditions.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCECwKpLgA

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