We are getting closer and closer to a Star Trek world where everything is done with the help with robots. And jobs become so scarce people don’t have to worry about money. Face it, companies are going to find ways to spend less money on paying employees by using machines. Robot use will continue to grow as costs go up like healthcare, costs for supplies goes up, and the higher-ups gets more greedier. That means more and more people are going to be jobless for long periods of time. Sad but true.
So, where are some interesting places where robots have already taken over. First, let’s go into the fast-food joint. Some fast food restaurants like Jack In the Box and Hardee’s have replaced the cashier with an automated computer where you can order your food, customize your food, and pay for your food. The only employee interaction you get is when the employee hands you the food you ordered. Even some grocery store chains have replaced some cashier jobs with computers. By the way, I love self-checkout! Here’s a video of such a computer from Jack In the Box.
Next, robots and computers are taking over the entire restaurant. In this video below from the BBC, all of your food is delivered by machine. You have your average conveyor belt where food goes down the line. But you can also customize your food and that food is delivered down a special high-speed conveyor belt. When you finish your food, you just send your plates down a chute at the table. The only employees are the cashier and the kitchen workers making the food. How long before those jobs are taken over by robots?
And robots are starting to take over the job of the barista. Briggo is developing the automated coffee machine where everything is automated from the ordering to the final product. No humans are needed to help make the coffee. Patrick Pierce, who happens to be a human, award-winning barista, helped to develop this machine. Briggo Coffe Haus is also synced to a smartphone app where you can do one-click ordering, it memorizes your order and saves your payment information, you can check on how long the wait time is for a drink, and you can place your order ahead of time. Could this challenge Starbucks in the future?
I am sure we will see more robots and computers taking over the jobs of humans in the future. And that leaves our leaders with a very complex question. Do we continue to replace jobs with robots, and what do we do with those people who can not find any jobs because robots have taken over? They still have to earn a living and make some money to pay the bills. That will be interesting to watch.
Related articles
- This Japanese restaurant ditches waiters for tablets and high-speed conveyor belts (venturebeat.com)
- Robot coffee tastes better than human (the-tap.blogspot.com)
- If everything’s being automated, let’s hope we’ll like our robots (newstatesman.com)
- Tokyo’s New ‘Smart Restaurant’ Is a Little Bit Creepy (theatlanticwire.com)
- How can we all own a robotic workforce? (gubatron.com)
- Forget the haters. Grocery self-checkout is awesome. (washingtonpost.com)
