How AI And Automation Are Taking Over Grocery Stores And Drive-Thru Lanes

From fully autonomous fast-food chains to smart carts lining grocery store parking lots, the way the food industry looks is changing due to massive investment in AI technology. The American consumer is starting to pull back on spending and rising food and labor costs are causing the food industry to invest more into automation to lower labor costs and improve sales, in order to stay competitive and take advantage of shifting consumer taste.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
2:34 CH 1. Digitizing food retail
5:35 CH 2. The risk and reward from robots
8:30 CH 3. What’s next?

Produced by: DeLon Thornton
Camera by: Kaan Oguz and DeLon Thornton
Edited by: Michael Hoyt
Graphics by: Christina Locopo and Jason Regniato
Supervising Producer: Jeniece Pettitt
Additional Footage: Getty Images

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How AI And Automation Are Taking Over Grocery Stores And Drive-Thru Lanes

[summaryjudgment]

Funny thing is, I've never ACTUALLY seen prices "come down".

[ryder]

They're blaming the high prices on labor costs. But guaranteed, once they automate everything, they still won't bring prices down. They'll just pocket even more profits.

[MrBucketlist]

This guy at 1:49 is clearly using AI to speak on his behalf lol

[aaronalquiza]

Companies blame "labor costs" yet wages haven't kept up to home prices & cost of living.

[FeelinTangerine]

I guess they can then turn the employee parking spaces into homeless camps for the former employees.

[Lidwig]

Corporate greed at an all time high what a damn shame

[RefreshingShamrock]

I hate that self-checkout is called "self-checkout" because the machines often error and require an employee to come scan their badge to make the machine work right. It defeats the whole purpose of self-checkout.

[alphonsusho]

1:30 This is what’s wrong with America. Everything is about profits. A company could make $50 billion but if they make $50 billion the next year, their company is considered to stale and dying. That company could’ve had an amazing product but now they need to cut something(usually ends up being quality) to please shareholders.

[CaptainMauzer]

The issue with self checkout at grocery stores is that those kiosks were designed and originally rolled out to replace the express checkout lane (typically orders 15 items or less). Somewhere the grocery exectivies forgot this and starting thinking you can send people with carts full into these kiosks where the bagging area is literally smaller than the cart....and expect that to work somehow.

[Joseph-mw]

I guess all the new jobs will be oiling an repairing robots.

[TalynWuff]

These same companies removing labor are the same ones who will cry and wonder why nobody is buying their product, when there are no jobs to pay people with in order to buy goods and services.

[saminnippon]

it’s not about labor costs, it’s about corporate greed

[icomefromcanadia]

Blaming company operating cost increases on ingredient cost inflation and not on wildly increased CEO and upper management salaries is madness. Ingredients and shipping have gotten more expensive, sure, but not as much so as CEO raises and bonuses. You can't claim to be hurting financially to justify price increases and simultaneously pay your CEO $19.2M USD and continuously giving raises and bonuses to those already earning millions and millions each year.

..Inflation is NOT the core problem for overhead cost increases leading to price increases.

[hayesab]

I wonder how much a toddler will cost when they ride in one of those

[NerdRapper]

If these companies trimmed back what they pay executives and CEOs they wouldn’t have to cut corners and screw everyone else over

[Phostings]

Shareholder, Shareholders, and shareholders. This is all I hear.

[raylemus]

Hey fast food industry! After looking at some of your reported financial statements, if I ever go to one of your automated stores, I expect at least a 20% discount in your prices! For those of you that can read financial statements, take a look at their net incomes, and margins. These people can easily afford to pay a national average wage to employees without affecting their bottom line much. A corporation with their investment interest, can NEVER make enough money.

[Factonise]

if i have to go to the store and eat a burger coming from a robotic window, i'd rather order it at home with food delivery apps😅😅. There is a reason people go to restaurants, sometimes it's the ambience and the human touch.

[akmalhafiz]

Relying too much on AI and automation will come to bit us back one day.

[realamerican]

What happens when technology puts so many people out of work there isn't enough people to buy their products?