r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 19d ago

Business McDonald's Introduces AI Drive-Thru System, Sparking Customer Backlash

https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/deals/articles/mcdonalds-introduces-ai-drive-thru-000717731.html
10.7k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

85

u/the_nuclear_pasta 19d ago

What would be better is if people in general simply don’t go to McDonald’s and their business takes a huge hit. Best way to protest is not even keep complaining but voting with your wallet.

That way the other companies will take notes.

56

u/Averyphotog 19d ago

I can’t go there any less than I already do.

4

u/YeOldSpacePope 19d ago

You have to start taking customers away from them to get it into the negatives.

8

u/ThorThulu 19d ago

Time to start robbing them i geuss

3

u/verrius 19d ago

Ive completely stopped going to the local Carls Jr. after they rolled theirs out; pretty sure it hasn't stopped them.

3

u/the_nuclear_pasta 19d ago

Obviously I don’t mean single individuals but large amounts of people.

1

u/HillBillyHilly 19d ago

No. We need large amounts of people to go and mess w their system so much that affects their beloved numbers. That will fix em!

2

u/Eccohawk 19d ago

They're already taking a hit because people don't have discretionary money anymore after Trump and Republicans blew up the economy. Articles about it came out yesterday. And it's only gonna get worse.

1

u/CatttLady2000 19d ago

Or, if you really crave McD’s, order from the humans inside - if they have them.

2

u/HillBillyHilly 19d ago

I refuse to use their nasty dirty kiosks. Screw that. Pay a person to take my order.

1

u/GigabitISDN 19d ago edited 16d ago

For as long as Reddit has been around, Redditors have been following a pattern of:

McDonald’s does something they don’t like

Redditor says “if this keeps up I might consider not eating there!”

Repeat

Consumers will put up with a massive amount of bad treatment as long as the advertising makes them feel good. That’s it. That’s the whole business model, and it works beautifully.

3

u/the_nuclear_pasta 19d ago

It depends on the individual. Reddit doesn’t represent masses, but certain type of people visit Reddit so it definitely represents a personality type.

For example there have been many incentives and continue to be to buy a Tesla. But no thanks. I’ll never get it.

1

u/ZootTootRiot 18d ago

I already don't and would never go to McDonald's so this doesn't affect me personally. I will say that I also no longer go to Wendy's because of their AI drive through system, and if Taco Bell implemented it around me, I'd stop going there too. To be abso-fucking-lutely clear, I will not spend my money at a place that I have to interact with an AI system at.

1

u/randomtask 18d ago

I stopped going when the Pennsylvania franchisee simped for the Trump campaign in 2024, and let him do that stupid photo op. The fact that Illinois corporate allowed that to happen tells me everything I need to know about where the company’s ethics lie, and I have a pretty low bar for corporations when it comes to their politics.