Fast food restaurants are interested in supplying as much food as possible while keeping costs low, and one means of achieving that is to automate the process.
One new method that has recently gone viral on TikTok is a robot built to assemble hot dogs for paying customers, allowing the restaurant chain to continue selling items even when no staff is present.
The video features Robbie, a robot created for a paid partnership between the robotics company VeloxAlpha and Poland’s largest convenience retailer, Zabka Polska.
Robbie has been deployed at numerous Zabka Polska outlets around Poland. According to VeloxAlpha officials, Robbie is the “first of its kind on the market” and aims to create a “user-friendly” system that is “available 24 hours a day for everyone.”
However, Robbie’s skills appear to have glaring weaknesses as the video demonstrates the robot failing to prepare a hotdog for a customer.
Over 12 million people have seen the video since it initially went live, with some TikTok users commenting that “it’s his first day on the job” and that “it ain’t much, but it’s honest work.”
“Performance art,” one Twitter user mused.
“Can’t wait for AI to take over the world,” another user joked.
Without a doubt, fast food chains will eventually incorporate some level of robotic automation into their operations because doing so would free up resources that would otherwise be used to pay for labour.
Additionally, a lot of fast food establishments would be able to remain open for a lot longer. Unfortunately, Robbie’s performance in this video makes it seem like reality is still a few years away, at least in making a good hot dog.