«Apply Thru»: McDonald's is taking a next step toward full automation
Background information

«Apply Thru»: McDonald's is taking a next step toward full automation

Translation: Eva Francis

McDonald’s is now accepting job applications via language assistants. Applying through Alexa or Google Assistant? No problem. But why would you want a job that will soon be taken over by robots anyway?

I bet you none of your job applications have ever started with «Alexa» or «Ok, Google», have they? McDonald's has set out to change this with their «Apply Thru» initiative that incorporates voice assistants into the application process. It’s no coincidence that the name sounds like «Drive Thru», but «Apply Thru» isn’t a drive-through for job interviews. It describes the new possibility to begin job applications using voice commands from Alexa or the Google assistant.

Self-order kiosks are only the beginning of automation at McDonald's. Source: KnowTechie
Self-order kiosks are only the beginning of automation at McDonald's. Source: KnowTechie

Is this McDonald's next major step towards a future with AI and machine learning? Or is it just an attempt to provide future applicants with a tool only to replace their jobs with artificial intelligence in the near future anyway?

Job applications 2.0

McDonald's attracted attention in the spring of this year with a press release about machine learning. The fast-food giant acquired Dynamic Yield, a startup specialising in AI and machine learning, with the purpose of improving their «drive-thru experience».

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You can’t actually complete the application process using a voice assistant. After starting, Alexa or the Google Assistant will ask you a few standard questions, which you have to answer out loud. The main purpose of this initiative is to encourage young people to apply for jobs at the fast-food chain – not to outsource the entire recruitment process to the language assistant.

After answering the questions, applicants are sent a text message with a link where they can complete the application process – provided they’re still eligible for the position after answering the introductory questions. «As simple as asking Alexa» is what McDonald's write on their Career Page. It seems that having to use a computer or make a phone call to apply for a job isn’t attractive enough for today's applicants. McDonald's is trying to counteract this by making it possible to apply via voice assistant.

The future of the application process? Google Home including Assistant. Source: AndroidPIT
The future of the application process? Google Home including Assistant. Source: AndroidPIT

Back to the future

The «Apply Thru» initiative is a further step towards a modern, digital and automated fast food industry. In recent years, McDonald's has invested a lot in being hipper and more millennial friendly – entirely in the interest of its customers, as the US fast-food chain claims.

For some time now, McDonald's has been competing with new burger restaurants that are springing up like mushrooms and struggling with customers' healthier eating and dieting habits, as well as with a food culture that is evolving away from late night drive-thru dinners and towards mobile app ordering.

Therefore, McDonald's decided to take a bold path and focus on AI, automation and on-demand delivery in the future. McDonald's is appealing to young people and their opportunities for a career at one of their restaurants. A job at McDonald's, as the fast-food chain claims, is a good start into a successful career. This career doesn't have to be in preparing or selling food, but, with the investments in futuristic technologies, is interesting for future IT professionals, too. McDonald's stresses that these jobs won't be automated and replaced by the very technology the company is currently investing in.

Machines and automated processes will do the work at McDonald's. Source: Big Think
Machines and automated processes will do the work at McDonald's. Source: Big Think

I have my doubts about the last statement. To me, the fancy application possibility via Alexa or Google Assistant looks a lot like a distraction strategy. People at McDonald's are trying to play down the fact that an enormous amount of money is going into AI and machine learning. Both technologies are used to automate processes. And will sooner or later replace human workers.

I have the impression that the fast food industry is also undergoing a change towards digitalisation. When fast food giants hire more software engineers than chefs and restaurant staff, invest more money in AI and machine learning than in healthier nutrition and allow new application processes via language assistants, it's clear the strategy is to move away from human labour and towards machines.

Technology everywhere

Another example of the technology boost at McDonald's are various partnerships: Uber Eats, a collaboration where food delivery by drone is currently very popular, or DoorDash, a delivery service that makes it possible to order a takeaway from local restaurants. And, of course, the large-scale introduction of their very own self-order kiosks in all restaurants worldwide.

Uber Eats drones might be delivering your Happy Meals in the future. Source: Dronelife
Uber Eats drones might be delivering your Happy Meals in the future. Source: Dronelife

McDonald's is also investing in marketing partnerships. Not only this latest cooperation with Amazon (Alexa) and Google (Google Assistant) is causing a stir: in 2017, when applicants were able to apply via Snapchat – this serviced was named «Snaplications» – the advantages and disadvantages of such an application process were also heavily discussed. No one outside McDonald's knows whether anyone actually applied via Snapchat or will do so via language assistants.

My concerns about the automation of many jobs are reinforced by even more drastic measures: in some restaurants in the US, McDonald's is testing fully automated robot kitchens and drive-thru systems that work with AI voice control only. Of course, the overriding goal behind all these investments, tests and modernising measures is to optimise profits. The first priority is to make the desired goods available to customers as efficiently as possible. No matter whether the restaurant is located at a highly frequented sweet spot in the middle of a big city or in a quiet corner of the agglomeration, the McDonald’s service, food and experience should always be the same: unforgettable.

Will a robot chef be preparing your food soon? Source: USA Today
Will a robot chef be preparing your food soon? Source: USA Today

What about the 500,000 McDonald's employees? The financial advantages of robots are obvious. And yes, it will be a long time before robots replace humans completely, but every time I hear that a company is planning to retrain existing employees rather than let them go, I can't help but laugh. Show me the checkout clerks who, after AI automated their job, become software engineers and develop the AI that took over their job.

But hey, if they don't like it, they will surely find another job at McDonald's – all they need to do is ask Alexa or Google... nope.

Header image: Not an Apple Store, but a modernized McDonald's branch in the USA. Source: CityAM

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When I'm not stuffing my face with sweets, you'll catch me running around in the gym hall. I’m a passionate floorball player and coach. On rainy days, I tinker with my homebuilt PCs, robots or other gadgets. Music is always my trusted companion. I also enjoy tackling hilly terrain on my road bike and criss-crossing the country on my cross-country skis. 


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