US fast food giant Wendy, who recently signed agreement to build 200 stores in Australia, have introduced a controversial change to their American drive-thrus – and it could be headed here with them.
The burger franchise has begun using an AI ordering service instead of actual workers at drive-thru windows, an experience one customer described as “eerie”. So far, the trial seems to be working, with the AI able to complete an order from start to finish in an average of 30 seconds.
With Wendy’s set to ramp up operations in Australia over the next decade, you could be ordering your meal from a disembodied robot voice before you know it.
But it does also raise questions about the kind of jobs that may be under threat from AI, which at the moment seem to be mainly low-paid jobs. The AI revolution certainly won’t stop at fast food restaurants, so what will that mean for lower socioeconomic groups in the future?
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