First, take a minute to check out these two sites:http://thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/05/mcdonalds-to-replace-workers-with.html
http://articles.cnn.com/2006-04-14/tech/fs.roboticsprofile_1_personal-robots-joanne-pransky-new-technology?_s=PM:TECH
Thank you. Now please answer these questions: Do you think robots "working" in fast-food restaurants like McDonald's is a good idea? What's the upside and downside to this? Do you see this trend moving into other areas of the service industry? Will too many people lose their jobs? Or will their jobs just change to controlling the robots? Will fries , burgers , and chicken still taste the same? Will customers still attend these places even if food is not handmade? Technology is getting better every day, so it's getting more and more likely to see automated beings taking over the jobs of humans. What are your thoughts on this?
Marcus Colton
14 comments:
Robots taking over human jobs is never a good idea but it is coming so brace yourself. On the upside it is going to benefit the business owners a whole lot because robots are programmable so they won't steal, cuss someone out or show poor customer service as they won't know how to. On the downside unemployment is going to be through the roof. If we think it is bad now wait a half a century and see what it's like. Everything will be the same as it is with a human employee as far as taste and appearance. Some people will probably go to a place that employs only robots so that they don't have to deal with shitty service. We don't have to like it, robots taking our jobs, only the business owner has to. Sure it will cost quite a bit to get started but Rome wasn't built in a day. Eventually we will see human-like robots (droids) in every business we see, except maybe healthcare.
Amber Johnson-Garcia
i think robots in the food service is a bad idea. The food still needs to be inspected, prepared,to insure quality. Having a robot in food service would only speed up getting your food, not eating it.
There are some jobs in factories that you need the precsion of a robot. Some robots have been in use to do task that would otherwise put humans in danger.It is a fine line; losing jobs to robots. luckily we are still the ones buying the product; when robots start shopping;than it has gone to far.
kevin h
Here are my thoughts on this topic...I DON'T LIKE THE IDEA AT ALL.
Now that you know where I stand I will explain.
We as a society have become so lazy and impatient that we are now turning to robots to flip our burgers HELL NO! I worked in the manufacturing business for 18 years and have seen what many robots are capable of doing and for that matter not doing. I feel this would be bad for the economy, because too many people would lose their jobs and wouldn't be able to eat at these places anyway. I know if I had a choice of going where there are robots working or humans working I'm taking the place with the humans every time.
Yes, for the owners they would benefit from less theft,more productivity and less downtime or call-ins, but you will still need someone to work on the robots and repair any machinery failure. Also with humans many problems can be fixed really quickly without any loss of production or down time with robots you would not have that option.
I feel the food industry is actually one of the last places robots should be; in the manufacturing world it has saved countless hours and lives, by allowing some piece of metal to do a dangerous job or work in hazardous conditions that most humans can't or won't work in.
I don't think the taste of the food will change after all a chicken, cow and pig are all still animals and they will never be automated...well at least I hope not! Technology is getting better everyday but when is it enough. If more people wanted to get off their lazy asses and work this would not be a discussion their should be no job that anyone is willing to do. Think back to when our parents were growing up they had to work just to pay to go to school and now many people feel they are above even washing dishes...Sorry I'll stop in conclusion I don't like the idea of robots replacing humans for many reason besides you never will you get that personal smile that all drive through cashiers give you every time you come through the drive-through window...okay maybe that was overdone.
Buddy Carpenter
I think that robots working for fast food place like McDonald's is a great idea for the consumer, but a terrible idea for the people that are having their jobs taken away. Having robots making the food and/or serving it would raise efficiency, increase consistency, and also largely raise a company profit margins by not having hourly workers. A business could be open 24/7, and just have maintenance done on the robots instead of paying the workers hourly.
I think that not only is this good for the consumer's and companies, if the technology is available, a company would be completely ridiculous not to change to robots. This change is inevitable. A companies main goal is to increase profit margins all the time, and basically make money. With this change, the profit margins will sky rocket, which means that they could possibly lower the prices on their food, which would be a win/win for the company and consumer, the only person that would not be benefiting would be the person who is losing their job.
I don't think this would change the business is any way, in fact, the food may even be better if the robot was programmed to make it the exact same way every time, the best way. The food at these fast food places isn't exactly 'handmade' to begin with so, personally, I would be completely alright with this change, I would even encourage it because it would mean the food at these places would be even cheaper.
Jake Bock
A robot doing the job of a human is some employer’s greatest hopes, because they would save money. It seems that America wants to save and make money, and as they are doing this, it’s dragging us down into bankruptcy. I could see the first successful robot-human becoming a trend, and many losing their jobs. Look at “snail-mail”, everyone sends emails, texts, E-cards, and Facebook rather than taking the time to hand write something. Mail carries all over the world are losing jobs due to technology. American is becoming lazy therefore America is going broke!
Heather Denam
I do think robots working in fast food restaurants could speed up the process. The upside is that people (hopefully) wouldn't have to repeat themselves and there wouldn't be problems with the technology. However, the downside is if something happened to the robots, how long would it take to repair them? They would have to shut down for awhile until they were fixed, which would end up costing them a lot more money.
I think in a way, machines have moved into several industries to get jobs done that humans simply don't have the power or strength to do. There will always have to be people to monitor or run the machines, so even though jobs may be cut, some jobs will always be there.
I can't be sure if the food would taste different or not, seeing as I've never eaten food made by a robot. I know that if all the food still tasted the same, I would still go to McDonalds. If it changed however, I think they could lose a lot of business.
-Hannah Miller
Alex
I think robots working would cause to many job losses for humans. I know places like McDonald’s would be bad if that happened because of the fact that that’s the only place a lot of people can get a job. My cousin for example doesn’t have any skills that can get her another job and if she loses that job, then she’d have a lot of trouble finding another. On the up hand though, this would make the order a lot more accurate and quicker. The only way this can cause more jobs is the fact that you’ll need tech support, but again, a lot of training goes into that that someone who flips burgers all day doesn’t have unless they go out and get it, but most of them won’t. I think it’d be a better chance of food tasting the same way really. At our McDonald’s in town, the food never tastes the same because each fryer does their job differently. My last though is that not all customers would go back because they don’t like the change.
Honestly, robots working in the food industries or in any job market isn’t really a good idea because what would happen to the humans? First they would have no jobs, no means of supporting themselves or making a living, and they would eventually get really lazy! I think that for certain jobs like machinery or farming it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let robots do all the work, considering that humans my die from such a dangerous job. Robots that take over household chores like cooking, cleaning, or anything that has to do with the house, I think it’s ok.
I think if robots did make food it would all taste the same and the appearance may even be better. Maybe some people may not go to these places not because robots made the food, but because they may not like the idea of robots taking over their job.
I think that the owners of businesses will prosper more because all they have to do is pay the cost of the robot and to repair it. No need to hire or fire anyone or even pay them (good for business owners, not for the general public). Another thing is security. Are people going to have to patrol the company or humans? Maybe the robots get out of control and may do something not made for them to do i.e. “I ROBOT” Perhaps people like to think that all robots are good for them and for the society such as “The Jetsons” Maybe the robots my malfunction and cause a fire.
Overall, I think robots in the workforce are a bad idea. Only specific jobs such as farming, and etc. should only be allowed. What is a robot anyway? It’s a machine and “we” all use machines every day, but for a machine to work on it’s own, that’s different.
Lori
I think that machines are just a lazy way for people not working in the store to make more money. Jobs are necassary for people to eat, and there are some machines that cut down on jobs. A lot of fast food restaurants there arent any grills anymore, there are super microwaves. Therefore no more chef to cook. I think advancing technology is great, and using it to help human being be more efficient even better. But i also think there is a point where people need to stop.
Adrian Enriquez
I don't think that robots working in fast food restaurants is a good idea. I know that robots are being used in many areas of the manufacturing industry. However I believe that people want people in the service industry. A robot just can't offer a personal touch and I believe customers want that. It's enough that we are losing jobs to overseas markets. I think the government should not allow corporations like McDonald's to use robots, corporations have a responsibility to employ citizens that purchase their products.
No matter how you look at it, the number of people who lose their job won't match up to the number of people who are employed maintaining robots.
I also think there would be a significant change in the taste of food. Robots are great for some jobs but not in the service industry.
Khattab
I think that a robot working in places like McDonald’s is actually not a bad idea. Not only is it financially better for the owners, but also, if there are no jobs at drive through windows or behind cash registers, people might be more encouraged to go to school and get a real education. They would be forced to stop being so lazy and resorting to getting jobs as cashiers or waiters. People are so dependent upon jobs that do not require an education at all. If people took school more seriously, they could get a real job and not care so much that robots are taking up the jobs at fast food restaurants. Maybe if robots took all of those jobs, humans would raise standards for themselves and stop worrying which fast food restaurants switched over to use robots as employees.
Ayah
Yes! I think robots’ working at fast food restaurants is a good idea. Key word “IDEA” though. I think that it is great economically that the robots would shorten the time that it takes to order, and that store hours would be increased. But what about in the drive thru when people order, and then they pull off because it’s taking too long? What about when there is a power outage and people can’t use the touch screens? Who’s going to change their battery from week to week or month to month? What if one of the robots is programmed to steal money or steal credit card identities? What if a person recently fired from McDonalds tries to sabotage one of the robots? What about that one robot who just so happens to spill a drink on another robot? What about that one robot who (always) puts too much salt on the fries and gives someone a heart attack? The robot can’t get sued, or can he? What about the robot who can’t understand someone’s accent in the drive thru? What about that one robot that just so happens to get too much grease on him, and malfunctions and then ends up like MEGATRON? Then the next thing you know we’ll end up like “Terminator Salvation” or “Planet of the Apes” but robots though. Will there be like a supervisor robot? Or will the robots be supervised by humans? I think that if robots do move into the industry that they’ll cause people to lose jobs left and right. Or maybe it will create jobs? Who knows?
P.S. What about that one robot who always shows up to work late? I bet one day robots will look at my post and say “Pheeew!! I’m glad he’s dead”
Pikachu
I don't think it is a good idea because we need jobs in order to make money to survive. It's bad enough most Americans are in poverty so we lessen this by giving jobs to robots?
There is no upside to this unless humans are becoming extinct, then we have no other choice but to use robots. I don't see this happening anytime soon. I don't know if I would eat at a place where a robot makes my food. What if it leaks oil because it isn't maintain properly? What if it malfunction and burn the food? Or even worst doesn't recognize that it is outdated or is poison? It scares me to think that some people are willing to take away jobs from humans to give to a robot who doesn't have to pay to live.
Makeisha Riley
I do not think it is a great idea to put robots in fast food restaurants. Being that I have worked in a fast food restaurant before, I know that it is not easy to hear while taking orders. If you put a robot in my position there probably would be a lot of messed up orders. I don’t think the food would be different, but the service would be. When a person come to McDonalds, they come for a smile and great service and a robot can’t do that. People think they are doing a good thing by replacing humans with robots and there is nothing wrong with that. Whether or not it is a great idea, we will find out in the future.
Akemia Slaughter
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