Poll: Would You Eat At A Fast Food Chain That Used Robots In Place Of Human Employees?
How's this for a movie trailer: "In a world where fast food is made by a massive fleet of robots, one man is on a quest to take the burger back." Sound like some crazy futuristic scheme? Believe it or not, it's not far-fetched at all.
Enter Momentum Machines, a San Francisco-based robotics company that's created a robot that can produce salads, sandwiches, burgers, and many other foods without any human intervention. Their robot can shape ground meat into a perfect patty, grill it to order, toast a bun, slice fresh vegetables, and assemble the burger... 360 times per hour, according to Salon. The company claims that the robot pays for itself within a year, completely eliminates labor costs, and requires less kitchen space.
Momentum isn't the only company with a non-human cook: Moley Robotics' robot chef cooks more than 2,000 different meals with the touch of a button and can learn techniques from professional chefs; it should be on the market by 2017.
With robots in the kitchen, it's not too far off to think that one day cashiers and cleaning crews could be replaced by robots too. In fact, an entire fast food restaurant could theoretically be operated by nothing but robots. But the question remains: Would you eat at one? Take our survey below and let us know.