Will an 'AI Makeover' Help McDonald's? (msn.com)
- Reference: 0176656289
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/25/03/09/070211/will-an-ai-makeover-help-mcdonalds
- Source link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/mcdonald-s-gives-its-restaurants-an-ai-makeover/ar-AA1Ailrn
"Technology solutions will alleviate the stress...." says McDonald's CIO Brian Rice.
> McDonald's tapped Google Cloud in late 2023 to bring more computing power to each of its restaurants — giving them the ability to process and analyze data on-site... a faster, cheaper option than sending data to the cloud, especially in more far-flung locations with less reliable cloud connections, said Rice... Edge computing will enable applications like predicting when kitchen equipment — such as fryers and its notorious [2]McFlurry ice cream machines — is likely to break down, Rice said. The burger chain said its suppliers have begun installing sensors on kitchen equipment that will feed data to the edge computing system and give franchisees a "real-time" view into how their restaurants are operating. AI can then analyze that data for early signs of a maintenance problem.
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> McDonald's is also exploring the use of [3]computer vision , the form of AI behind facial recognition, in store-mounted cameras to determine whether orders are accurate before they're handed to customers, he said. "If we can proactively address those issues before they occur, that's going to mean smoother operations in the future," Rice added...
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> Additionally, the ability to tap edge computing will power voice [4]AI at the drive-through , a capability McDonald's is also working with Google's cloud-computing arm to explore, Rice said. The company has been [5]experimenting with voice-activated drive-throughs and robotic deep fryers since 2019, and [6]ended its partnership with International Business Machines to test automated order-taking at the drive-through in 2024.
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> Edge computing will also help McDonald's restaurant managers oversee their in-store operations. The burger giant is looking to create a "generative AI virtual manager," Rice said, which handles administrative tasks such as shift scheduling on managers' behalf. [7]Fast-food giant Yum Brands' Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have explored similar capabilities.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/mcdonald-s-gives-its-restaurants-an-ai-makeover/ar-AA1Ailrn
[2] https://www.wsj.com/business/mcdonalds-mcflurry-machines-copyright-office-9219c60b
[3] https://www.wsj.com/articles/tyson-takes-computer-vision-to-the-chicken-plant-11581330602
[4] https://www.wsj.com/articles/wendys-google-train-next-generation-order-taker-an-ai-chatbot-968ff865
[5] https://www.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-tests-robot-fryers-and-voice-activated-drive-throughs-11561060920
[6] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/mcdonalds-to-end-two-year-drive-through-ai-experiment-after-mishaps-at-restaurants-using-the-technology-3c463915
[7] https://www.wsj.com/articles/taco-bell-and-pizza-hut-are-going-ai-first-yums-new-tech-chief-says-2f423d5e
None of it will improve the end product. (Score:3)
None of it will improve the end product.
It's like they load the ingredients in a shotgun, shoot it at the bun, wrap it and send it. It's like barf on a bun, honestly.
None of this will make a difference to how they slap your Egg Mc Dreck together.
Re: (Score:2)
It's like they load the ingredients in a shotgun, shoot it at the bun, wrap it and send it. It's like barf on a bun, honestly.
You mean [1]like this [youtube.com]?
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUguofrn3qw
Re: (Score:2)
> load the ingredients in a shotgun, shoot it at the bun, wrap it and send it.
[1]Patton Oswalt - KFC Famous Bowls [youtube.com]
“America has spoken. Pile my food in a fucking bowl like I’m a dog.”
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfan5MacmsI
Re: (Score:2)
Fast food prices are already approaching lower end sit-down restaurant prices. People won't pay the same for a Big Mac as they do for a real(ish) meal at Denny's, even when that price reflects what it actually costs to make the food.
Which is to say, the entire fast food business model is dependent on subsistence wages, where employees have to have subsidies to survive. Be it free medical insurance (paid for by the taxpayer), tax refunds on money they never paid in (paid for by taxpayers), or sixteen people
Re: (Score:2)
Your problem is caused by the imbalance between worker salary and company profits. Problem is that you can not solve it by paying more to the workers, because that will just make robots look more affordable. You can delay the problem by lowering the taxes on work and increasing the tax on companies, but that requires global forced co-operation. In the long run we need government owned factories that provide free food and stuff for the people. That way government and the people get directly the benefits from
Integration (Score:2)
Android Auto in your robotaxi will be in communication with the Google AI in restaurants and let them know you are coming well ahead of time. The agents already know what food you like, so you can just say you want 'the usual'. The car slowly drives past the takeout window and your order will arrive down a chute, payment made through Google Wallet. The people who used to work there will be sitting on sheets of cardboard out on the periphery, hoping you will throw them some scraps.
Big promises (Score:2)
Off of a lot of tech that doesn't have a ton of successful implementation.
I think back to when I was doing digital signage early last decade and when transparent LCD was hitting the market and ever couple weeks we would get a call about "can you make freezer doors with displays in them"? and on paper it seems good, like if I was a salesman I could go into a retail chain and make a compelling pitch:
You can sell ad dollars on the displays, it's attention getting, customer don't have to open the doors to see w
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> A half working piece of tech is often worse than just not having it at all.
It's worse than that because even if it is working, it defeats the purpose of why the window is there. To see what the hell is in the fridge or freezer so one can buy it. Showing a screen of what's not in there just makes the customers think it's an empty case and walk way.
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For real and I would be curious if there was any data on increased power usage because people don't believe the display so they open the doors even more than when it was just glass, I have to believe that was a side effect
McFlurry ice cream machines are build to need ser (Score:2)
McFlurry ice cream machines are build to need service from only an Taylor tech that can cost about $350 for every 15 minutes
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Yup. There've been IIRC at least 2 expose articles about those things. They're designed to break. What no one seems to ask is why McDonalds don't just change their supplier as its clearly hitting their bottom line.
Pizza Hut has gone downhill (Score:2)
We used to enjoy getting a large supreme pan pizza at our local place. For whatever reason we stopped buying them years ago and only recently started to purchase again every once in a while. What used to be a hot, crispy yet succulent pizza is now only middling crispy and slightly undercooked. They need to keep it in the oven another two minutes to get the cheese really gooey instead of semi-liquid blobs they have now.
If they're using AI for this, I don't want it.
Price cuts (Score:3)
They need to become more affordable. It is so crazy expensive to eat at a fast food restaurant now that even people struggling for time are just at the point where they skip meals.
You can't have a burger fries and a drink costing $15 where the median hourly wage is something like 20 an hour.
What they need to be doing is pushing for policies that will help keep costs down but those same policies mean their CEO will have to pay slightly more in taxes. Hell the main goal right now of the people at the top seems to be to completely shift their tax burden onto us. That's quite a bit of money even though it's a small percentage of their incomes because their incomes are so high.
Of course when all our taxes double next year thanks to the national sales tax there's going to be less money spent at McDonald's but again the people at the very very top are going to make out very very well.
It's okay though, I'm a temporarily inconvenienced millionaire.
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The CEO and now chairman of McDonald’s was paid $19.2 million last year in salary, bonuses and stock, according to federal securities filings.
McDonald's annual gross profit for 2024 was $14.71B
They have 1.7 million employees.
Minimum pay is about $22,053 per year.
The total burger sales in a given year totals to approximately 2.5 billion.
CEO salary divided to all employees would be 19200000/1700000=11.29 dollars.
CEO salary divided to burgers would be 19200000/2500000000=0.00768 dollars
So you can not mak
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They don't have 1.7 million employees. The have about 150,000 and most of those work outside the US. Most everyone employed at a McDonald's works for a franchisee that rents space and buys supplies from corporate.
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Do you point that out because you think rsilvergun was proposing to give a salary bump to foreign employees of McDonalds and do nothing at all for 100,000+ Americans wearing that uniform in US outposts of the chain?
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Problem is McDonalds isn't a food or restaurant company but a real estate REIT that runs a food supply business on the side so its customers, the franchisees, can pay rent. It makes money by doing things like this and forcing then forcing the franchisees to buy them at a high markup. The McFlurry machine that's always broken is by design because they've cut side deals with Taylor to sell machines that break down, have the franchisees buy the maintenance contract that prevents them from fixing it, and th
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Launch a $10 Value Menu!
Joke aside, you're right, I ate the Five Guys last week and it was almost $20 for a burger + fries + soda. I don't know what providers can do about pricing, but I do know that prices have jumped ahead of income. If things don't change, we'll wind up in a stagflation cycle, and that will be a whole different level of hurt.
Stress (Score:2)
> Technology solutions will alleviate the stress....
Unless someone turns up the [1]assembly line [wikipedia.org] speed. On the other hand, the [2]McFlurry line [mcbroken.com] is probably pretty easy to work on.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Times_(film)
[2] https://mcbroken.com/
people went to McDonalds for the cheap food (Score:2)
People went to McDonalds for the cheap, tasty food.. they lost business after price gouging on food and loosing focus on the basics- cheap, fast food! When the burgers now cost as much as a premium burger at other chains, but remains cardboard with a shadow of a lettuce leaf... the customers left.
They went the way of MBA's preaching year over year profit growth, and ever changing for sake of change.
Apparently, making a stable profit margin and just keeping market share is death for a business.
If they're th
Thanks Marshall Brain (Score:2)
We are getting closer and closer to Marshall Brain's Manna world. I forget who originally posted this on Slashdot, but the more metric-oriented, measured, and computer controlled our jobs are, the more I think of this story.
https://marshallbrain.com/manna1
Re: (Score:2)
Guy seems to have a fascination with restrooms.
No (Score:2)
Their problems won't be solved by tech
Simple test (Score:1)
Can the AI say: Yah wan fries wizzat!? In a tinny crackly voice?
Maybe? (Score:1)
It's improving all the time. And it's got to be better at the tasks than a large percentage of the Joe Schmuckatellis.