Burger Robot Working At $3/Hr Could Replace Human Labor

By Mayukh Saha / Truth Theory

If you work at a fast-food joint, then you might be replaced by a burger robot that flips burgers for just $3/hr. Flippy is the burger robot, created by Miso Robotics, and it works at a much less amount than your average daily wage worker. Although the company takes anywhere between $20,000- $30,000 to institute these robots at restaurants, it is still an easy pay compared to the minimum daily wage.

Digital Trends mentions how Flippy is built exactly for the purpose of flipping burgers. It has regular, and thermal vision, and is adept at multi-tasking. The arms are built for both internal heating, and flipping, and don’t be surprised when Flippy also talks to its human compatriots about when to add the patty, and when to put the sauce. When Miso Robotics began this project, the arms were sold at $100,000. But now, the price has come down to $10,000, and it is estimated that the prices would simply go lower as the days go by. Back in 2017, CaliBurger, an international burger chain decided to install Flippy, which flipped close to 150 burgers in an hour.

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You would be interested to know that Flippy isn’t the first robot to be sold strictly for its culinary skills. Three decades ago, Taco Bell had brought in a robot of their own, but it failed due to several problems. In 2020, Taco Bell is all about instituting self-ordering Kiosks all over America to cut down cost on the minimum daily wage. In fact, Business Insider mentions how the plan had been initiated back in 2019.
McDonald’s is one of the first companies to jump on the automated bandwagon. Ed Rensi, the CEO of the US division mentioned that money would be better spent on an automated fryer which costs $35,000 than paying an inefficient worker $15 an hour for putting French Fries in a bag. McDonald’s has also brought out touch screen ordering pads in several locations throughout the country. The companies with an automated workforce are KFC, Panera, McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Wendys, and others.

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In Asia, Chinese giant Ali Baba installed automated grocery chains. They also have robot staff in their diners to take orders on the go. Country Garden Holdings, a real estate conglomerate also opened up the first robotic restaurant in Guangzhou, wherein every single staff member is automated.
The sudden upsurge of automation in the human work-force is quite worrying. It has been estimated that almost every single job that was previously held by humans would be given to the automated workforce- doctors, journalists, lawyers, and the like. Also, this wouldn’t be in the distant future– 2030 is just around the corner.

Oxford University reports that we would definitely face a robot apocalypse in the next 20-30 years where half of the jobs would go to robots in America, and then to the entire world. This burger robot is just the beginning.

Image credit: Julien Tromeur