McDonald's AI drive-thru bot accused of breaking biometrics privacy law McDonald’s has been accused of illegally collecting and processing customers' voice recordings without their consent in the US state of Illinois. Like so many giant corporations, McDonald’s has turned to AI technology to use computers in place of people. In 2019, it announced it had snapped up a voice-recognition company in …
A friend of mine once remarked that the Hamburgler had the foulest mouth of all the various fast food mascots. I asked what made her think so & she replied as follows:
Have you ever seen the Hamburgler eat? I haven't. Not in the decades I've seen him in commercials. So here you have a guy that's starving & trying to get himself some food. Every time he's nearly got his hands on some, a literal big idiot clown comes up & steals it back. What does the Hamburgler say in such moments? "RobbleRobble!" must be his version of something so foul that the tv censers can't express it in any other way.
I thought about it a moment & then had to agree with her. I've never seen him eat anything, that asshole clown always steals his meal, & the victim screams "RobbleRobble!" in anguish.
My son was still in his car seat/baby carrier at the time, and I'd often teach him new words/phrases while we were on the public bus. One day not long after her bringing this to my attention, I taught my son to say "RobbleRobble" instead of any other naughty word he might be tempted to say. An older lady was watching my son & I interacting when someone else on the bus said something rude. My son burbled "RobbleRobble!" & I started laughing. The old lady looked at me funny so I explained it to her. Then she started laughing, too. By the time it was my stop & I collected my son to exit, we had most of the other passengers saying "RobbleRobble" as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
And how does this relate to IT? Simple. Take a guess what I tended to say when something went SNAFU. Now imagine the looks on coworkers' faces upon hearing such a "curse". And the laughter they gave once explained. And the frequency such a phrase would get tossed around the office thereafter.
Best of all, it was something you could openly say to someone to their face & *nobody* could accuse you of being foul mouthed or impolite. I mean, what are you going to tell the person to whom you are filing a complaint: "Yeah, your employee said to have a nice day & go ''RobbleRobble''."? You'd get laughed right out the door...
So you are ok with any ole company using AI on your data without your consent for any ol' purpose? I'm not, and I actually hope there are too few of this sort of privacy laws which are likely too tame. 5k/person? Really? Make that 500k/person or tie it to global turnover and maybe it would not be classified as "normal business risk" by the bean counters. I used to think otherwise, but looking at some people's reckless behaviour, I feel that the risk of a) being caught and b) the potential damage both have to be higher.
This post has been deleted by its author
85% is about 35% higher than the accuracy rate I've experienced with people... I'd take the AI any day.
Even before COVID, I was SOOOO happy to get the touch screen ordering systems. It was the only reason I went to McDonald's. The food is horrid but now I don't have to deal with explaining my order 3 times to people that are tired of people yelling orders at them.
I'd much prefer Wendy's or somewhere else where the food resembles something edible, but they don't have working touch screens.
"85% is about 35% higher than the accuracy rate I've experienced with people"
I was walking past a different restaurant's drive-thru the other day, the order taker repeated the order back to the customer, no that wasn't it, again and again. Eventually either they converged or the customer just agreed with what was on offer, I'm not sure which. One thing in favor of the AI is it won't get tired and stop paying attention as break time approaches. Of course it's the recording and storing of all that data that has the giant McCorporation salivating. Next step - ban cash payments so they can integrate the payment details.
This is why I have the app's on my phone for fast food outlets (I refuse to call them restaurants) & simply park & order (If I haven't already) up for collection.
Instead of crawling forward 1 vehicle length at a time, trying to communicate with the accent of the hour, through a open window (In a temperature range from -32C to 32C (Rain, sleet, snow or hail optional) via a speaker post, then repeat the whole inching forward to the windows for payment & collection.
Not only can I get the order faster & correct first time, favorite's\previous orders are stored for re-ordering & there's special deals.
"This is why I have the app's on my phone for fast food outlets (I refuse to call them restaurants) & simply park & order (If I haven't already) up for collection."
And in the process you let them know how often you dine with them, what you order, your name and if you are on FB, all of your browsing and PII info.
I like Chinese food, the waiters never are rude, a 6, a 12, a 3 and lychees.
"I would like a Big Mac with a large fry and a large Dr. Pepper."
"I'm sorry, Dave, I can't let you order that. My sensors and telemetry detect that you are obese. This would be the 298th time you ordered a large fry at a restaurant. And the 53rd time you ordered a large Dr. Pepper. You seem to prefer a large Pepsi over at Taco Bell. Alexa informed me that your wife has told you not get the large fry again. I agree with your wife. I am now changing your order, Dave, to a healthier small salad and medium unsweetened tea. Have a nice day."
"Wait, how did you know my name was Dave?"
You might like reading "The Feedback Loop" by Harmon Cooper, there's a lovely part in the series where the main character gets saddled with an AI "FDA monitor" that gives him direct advice about what to and not to eat...
He decides that pancakes, bacon, and syrup beat "gerbil chow" any day, much to said AI's consternation.
There's also the British assassin team, sacks of doorknobs, a dashboard hula girl and a blender, and much other improvised weaponry...
Mine's the one with the copy of the box set that I really should re-read one of these days.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
