Fast food, one of the most relentlessly Taylorised processes in all of labour, is going "AI" apparently. Looks like Taco Bell/Pizza Hut's CTO got promptfondled
Fast food, one of the most relentlessly Taylorised processes in all of labour, is going "AI" apparently. Looks like Taco Bell/Pizza Hut's CTO got promptfondled
all this is framed as "driving sales" so let's look at the concrete uses in the article
Yum’s SuperApp, a mobile app for restaurant managers to track and manage operations—Park calls it “a coach in your pocket”—is testing a generative AI boost, he said. Team members can ask the app questions like “How should I set this oven temperature?” rather than turning to training materials or tapping through an app interface.
a search function, for a manual, that can lie to you
Like its competitors, Yum is testing generative AI’s use for customers, such as voice AI for drive-through orders.
giving customers a shittier interface in order to replace workers
The company is also looking into image-recognition AI to count cars and waiting times in a drive-through, as well as digitally linked and managed kitchen appliances, Park said.
surveillance
so, nothing related to increasing sales. they emphasize that angle because it sounds productive, dynamic, aspirational - but there is no such use case for ai as of yet
Team members can ask the app questions like “How should I set this oven temperature?” rather than turning to training materials or tapping through an app interface.
Yep, that's a health code violation in the making.
Setting temperature to 9000 degrees.
No, what, stop that!
I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid that, as a large language model, I can't do that.
Back in the late 90s tech boom days McDonalds declared that they would sell hamburgers over the Internet. Remember, this was before smartphones, hell it was before Nokia flip phones with rudimentary browser and email. Most people who had internet access at all used it either at work, school or the family computer with dial up modem.
McDonalds' stock price rose by 50%.
I remember it because I thought this was so stupid that it must mean that the bust was near. I was just of years. The market can stay stupid longer than you can believe it, or however it was Keynes put it.
I remember hating that it was extremely limited but it was kind of available sometimes maybe in the largest metros during the 90s, it made the movie “The Net” feel more real (ordering pizza online).
Tie-In SourceETA archive link: https://web.archive.org/web/19970119092932/http://www.greenwich-village.com:80/menus/mcdmenu.htm
"If you think about the major journeys within a restaurant that can be AI-powered, we believe it’s endless."
My dude, you work for Yum Brands, not Starfleet Command. Nobody taking a "major journey" inside a Pizza Hut needed AI help to get there. (Though they could probably use a cup of water, and maybe an Uber home.)
seriously, 1) what the fuck is it even supposed to mean, 2) whatever it is i doubt i can think of one
Oh, "major journey" is corporate-hack-speak for a complex process / workflow. At some point in the last few years someone decided to call them that. Basically this guy is saying, "I went to business school to learn how to use pretty words to fuck over labor while also gutting value from anything I touch."
I am looking forward to the genai bust.
Tech fees paid by franchise owners help fund Yum’s AI investments, Park said. Yum declined to say how much it charges franchisees.
Ah, there you go.
Are we looking at Manna becoming a reality? https://marshallbrain.com/manna1
@dgerard “If you think about the major journeys within a restaurant that can be AI-powered, we believe it’s endless.” oh fuck off
I'm pretty sure the Taco Bell I went to last week was playing AI generated music in there too
Can't wait to prompt inject myself into a promotion.