Robotic systems, which have entered our lives with the developing technology, have now started to be used in many different sectors. Now it has been revealed that McDonalds, the world’s largest fast food chain, has started testing these systems.
McDonald’s, which serves millions of people every day, started to serve with robots in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. A video from the branch was watched by millions of people on all social media in a short time. As you can imagine, this has caused concern as it may lead to reduced job opportunities in the future.
No human employees at a McDonald’s branch in Texas
Unlike all McDonald’s branches you’ve seen, this tiny branch has no people. In other words, all services are provided by robots. The video, which was first shared by an Instagram and TikTok user named foodiemunster, spread all over social media in a short time. In the images showing the process from order to food purchase, it was seen that there was not even a cashier in the branch, and robots delivered food to people.
According to Newsweek, the company said it is testing this system to improve the customer experience and deliveries are received via a conveyor belt. In addition, it was stated in the explanations that the service was only for dining outside the restaurant, and the service was explained in detail:
“When you step into the test restaurant, you will realize that you are in a much smaller place than in a traditional McDonald’s restaurant in the USA. Why is that? Inside and outside features are for customers planning to dine at home or on the go. Inside the restaurant there is a ‘pick up’ area that allows couriers to take orders quickly and easily. There is also a place where customers can place orders and a pick-up shelf that allows them to pick up those orders. Outside, there are parking areas both for car service and for couriers to put their vehicles.”
This move of McDonald’s reveals that technologies that do not require humans can be used in the future of the fast food industry. So, how can these systems produce results? Let’s see.
McDonald’s new technology divided people
This application, tested by McDonald’s, divided people on social media. Some said that it can be very useful in terms of order and customer satisfaction, while others stated that it can cause big problems in issues such as employment.
Let’s look at the advantages first. This unique innovative system can enable restaurants to focus more on ordering and food, providing a better customer experience. It can also be useful as it is faster and minimizes human error. In addition, considering that we live in a post-pandemic period, it also has the potential to protect against diseases by minimizing human contact. Some users who have already commented on the video say that with this method, their orders can arrive faster, cleaner and more accurately.
But the new technology has a pretty scary side. It’s also likely to put a lot of people out of their jobs. As it is known, fast food companies, especially McDonald’s, provide jobs to millions of people around the world. However, the use of such technologies may cause people to lose their jobs by minimizing the number of employees in branches. Commentators on the system also say that millions of people could be unemployed in this way.
McDonald’s, which showed that Robots entered our lives much faster than we expected with this move, did not share information about how much technology will be tried and when it will come to other places.