Minimum-Wage Blowback - Fast Food Burger-Flipping Robot Works For $3 An Hour
Minimum-Wage
Blowback - Fast Food Burger-Flipping Robot Works For $3 An Hour
by Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/05/2020 - 23:45
Over the
years, we've documented the
proliferation of artificial intelligence and robots in the workplace would lead
to a tidal wave of job losses through 2030.
What peaked our attention several years ago was Miso Robotics, a
Pasadena tech company with the focus of developing robots for fast-food
restaurants, has seen the price of its burger-flipping robot drop from $100,000
to $10,000 in four years.
"Off-the-shelf
robot arms had plunged in price in recent years, from more than $100,000 in
2016, when Miso Robotics first launched, to less than $10,000 today, with
cheaper models coming in the near future," according to the Los Angeles Times.
The burger-flipping robot is now more cost-effective than the
average low-skilled employee, which means Miso's unveiling of a subscription
plan for restaurants, of just $2,000 a month, with the choice of a robot that
works either the grille or fryer, could be very appealing to restaurant owners
or managers across the country who need to drive down labor costs.
"As a result, Miso can offer Flippys to fast-food
restaurant owners for an estimated $2,000 per month on a subscription basis,
breaking down to about $3 per hour. (The actual cost will depend on customers'
specific needs). A human doing the same job costs $4,000 to $10,000 or more a
month, depending on a restaurant's hours and the local minimum wage. And robots
never call in sick," LA Times adds.
Americans could soon see Flippy or a variant of the robot
at a mom and pop restaurant or a major fast-food chain in the early
2020s, the affordability of these robots will entice restaurant operators
to drive down labor costs.
On a much broader perspective, Karen Harris, Managing Director
of Bain & Company's Macro Trends Group, presented a fascinating report several
years ago titled "Labor 2030: The Collision of
Demographics, Automation, and Inequality," which outlines
how automation could eliminate upwards of 40 million jobs by the end of this
decade.
Millions
of Americans are employed in the fast-food industry; the proliferation of
automation could lead to a rapid increase in job losses through the mid to late
2020s. The labor market could see major
disruptions from robots in the years ahead, it's expected this
trend could force the government to have the Federal Reserve finance People's
Quantitative Easing, in the form of universal income, etc.
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