https://fortune.com/2023/05/09/wendys-ai-powered-chatbot-drive-thru-orders/

  • Dolores [love/loves]
    ·
    2 years ago

    enclose, reduce staff, enclose, reduce staff, enclose, reduce staff

    at every stage the worker is more alienated from their remaining labor, made invisible cogs in some mechanical product-turk, at every stage everyone with any kind of difficulty & special needs are further disenfranchised because eventually there's just not going to be anybody to help them. god we need popular ludditism so fucking bad :sadness:

    • regul [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Whatever happened to the automat model? Just a bunch of glass boxes constantly kept staffed by cooks behind a wall.

      • captcha [any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Way cheaper and more efficient to have bays of food under a heat lamp like a gas station. But most gas stations aren't busy enough to justify a self check out.

      • ssjmarx [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        Those are still around but they're kind of a gimmicky thing that you only try once before realizing that they suck.

        Japan figured out the best version of these with conveyor belt sushi. But in most of those restaurants you can see the sushi chefs and there's still waitstaff for drinks, so it's like they made it as un-alienating as possible.

        edit: actually I just realized that Ghost Kitchens are the current cutting edge of the automat concept. Just a kitchen in an unmarked building that you (more likely your delivery driver) pick up food from.

      • Dolores [love/loves]
        ·
        2 years ago

        too many cooks preparing food that might not be picked up that instant, think just-in-time logistics but with food prep

      • daisy
        ·
        2 years ago

        That was a real thing? I thought it was made up for the movie Dark City.