Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Fighting the Minimum Wage: McDonald’s Makes a Move to Automate the Drive-Thru

McDonald’s has announced that it has agreed to acquire Apprente, a company that is trying to automate the drive-thru. It’s the fast-food giant’s third tech-focused deal this year, reports CNBC.


Apprente, a Silicon Valley company founded in 2017, uses artificial intelligence to understand drive-thru orders, which could cut down on service times. McDonald’s said the technology also could be used someday in its self-order kiosks and mobile app.

McDonald’s stock, which has a market value of $167 billion, is up 22% this year.

-RW



3 comments:

  1. I guess the anti-immigrant crowd will be against automation at McDonald’s too since said automation will put Americans out of work.

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    1. It's even worse than that. The machines aren't of western European heritage, and won't vote for state-managed borders.

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  2. I am betting that AI is far superior to TI (Teenage Intelligence), because WHENEVER I go through a drive-thru at any fast food restaurant, some stupid, dim-witted, mouth-breathing, over-paid teen screws up my order! Very infuriating, to make such a discovery when you're 3 miles away at home.

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