A few nights ago I was hanging out with friends when we
decided to grab some food. The excursion started like any other — fighting over
who should drive, a few U-turns and some loud music — but when we finally
arrived at Carl’s Jr., I made a shocking discovery.
Beside the normal human-attended register were two
automatic-teller-looking machines that took food orders.
I don’t know why I found this so outrageous; I should have
seen it coming. But for some reason this fast-food order apparatus took me by
surprise. I mean, really people? Really?
Similar mechanical helpers already exist at banks and
grocery stores, but I guess I just ignore them in favor of human help. You can
already order pizza or buy movie tickets online, not ever having to deal with
an actual person, and hardly anyone goes into the post office anymore.
We all walk around, plugged into iconic white ear buds, not
interacting with one another. And have you ever needed help with a bill
payment, traffic ticket or computer problem?
Good luck navigating the 40-minute phone tree.
With all these simple interactions already mechanized, it’s
plausible to believe that the majority of our everyday exchanges will soon be
automated.
Wow, the future really is here. And man, did it sneak up on
me.
Now this might sound ridiculous coming from a 20-year-old,
but what happened to the good old days when you could go to Carl’s Jr., order a
chocolate milkshake, hand money to your little brother’s pimply high-school
friend and have that drink bused to your table?
Where will high-school kids get work experience if these
tasks are now being taken care of by machines?
If your first job wasn’t at a fast-food restaurant, it was
probably something similarly blue collar — maybe you took movie tickets, washed
dishes or, if you were lucky, filed papers at an office — but if this trend of
automation continues what will teenagers do 15 years from now?
When I mentioned my frustrating discovery to a friend, I was
even further appalled when he said he was excited about the new machines because they wouldn’t mess up his
order the way a human might.
Sure, a computer may be marginally more economical, and will
definitely cut costs for executives, but the losses easily outweigh the
efficiency gain — and come on corporate big shots, is minimum wage really too
pricey?
In high school I, like many, worked at a restaurant taking
names and busing dishes. This taught me problem-solving and time-management
skills while dealing with the pressure of 10 whiney, unseated parties, and that
sometimes you just have to suck it up and clean that
baby-spit-and-scrambled-egg mess, because no one else is going to. Not only are
we losing a valuable source of entry-level work experience but, more importantly, we’re losing simple human
contact.
Imagine riding a remotely operated trolley to school each
morning, grabbing some coffee from a completely mechanized cart, sitting
through a video lecture, then going out with friends after class to a carnival
where every ride is computerized and every concession stand is automated. While
a world made solely of robotic relationships is the stuff of eerie science
fiction novels, things do seem to be moving in that direction.
Though what we’re giving up by accepting these
person-supplements is to some degree intangible, there is something to be
gained from common human contact. Machines just aren’t engaging; they won’t
spot you that nickel and won’t help give
you directions to the elusive product you’re trying to find. They’re dull, and
sometimes they make annoying beeping noises or malfunction altogether.
So yes, machines might improve efficiency. But frankly,
knowing where your money goes and where your food comes from, for example, are
good things.
And true, with the current Carl’s Jr. system I might just
know that when I hand my money to the pimply cashier it goes into a register to
be counted and deposited at the end of the day, and that my milkshake comes
from somebody in the back scooping soft-serve and chocolate syrup into a
blender — but at least that’s something.
