A fast-food worker making food in the deep fryer
FOOD NEWS
How Many Fast Food Jobs Can We Actually Hand To AI?
By Elias Nash
A line-up of In-N-Out, Carl's Jr, and Del Taco fast food restaurants are viewed along Interstate 10 on May 9, 2022 in Cathedral City, California. The Coachella Valley, located along Interstate 10 and south to the Salton Sea, is home to dozens of municipalities and boosts a winter population of 800,000 residents but drops to 400,000 residents in the hot summer months. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
In 2022, the National Restaurant Association reported that 65% of restaurants did not have enough workers. Now, the fast-food industry is feeling the growing presence of AI.
Restaurant worker helping a customer
While staff often say their concerns are low wages and a work-life imbalance, many restaurants are taking a cheaper, more efficient route of replacing them with robotic assistance.
Robot pouring coffee
According to global restaurant consultancy firm Aaron Allen & Associates, they estimate that as much as 82% of restaurant jobs could be performed by robots.
Fast food restaurant customer ordering food using automated touchscreen kiosk.
Voice-operated service systems built around conversational AI programs are being used for ordering kiosks and phone systems. They are now being tested in drive-thru systems.
Behind the counter view with a large number of busy staff serving customers at McDonald's first outlet in the Soviet Union at Pushkin Square, Moscow. 1 September 1990.
Behind the scenes, AI is being implemented for tasks such as tracking transactions and consumer trends, determining schedules, and evaluating human workers’ performances.
Robot slicing and cooking vegetables
AI assistance is even making its way into kitchens, like the robotic arm Flippy, which can work a grill and fryer and is claimed to work twice as fast as a person.
Drive Thru sign to McDonald's Restaurant on Aclimacao avenue. Shot in São Paulo, Brazil.
While AI technology has made serious strides, it still has a long way to go. Multiple TikTok users have posted videos of the McDonald’s AI drive-thru systems fumbling their orders.
A bottle of Absolut Vodka on ice
A woman holding a Big Mac
A variety of fast-food meals on a table

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