Latest news with #NiushaShafiabady
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Hungry Jacks sparks outrage over major change at drive-thru in Australia
A new trial at Hungry Jack's could mark the beginning of the end for a key fast food job. Hungry Jack's is trialling the use of AI drive-thru assistants at its St Peters restaurant in Sydney, and those wanting a meal will experience a digital voice-activated customer ordering system. The trial will be rolled out to other restaurants in the coming months, and many Aussies have started to question how many fast food workers will lose their jobs in the future. AI expert Niusha Shafiabady told Yahoo Finance that retail jobs were 'very likely' to change soon as AI begins to take over. 'At this stage, people are preparing our food, in the future robots will be preparing our food,' Ms Shafiabady said. 'I would anticipate with the work that Elon Musk is doing in developing humanoid robots that even within the next 10 years people wouldn't be preparing our food.' Restaurants around the world, including KFC, Wendy's, McDonald's, Chipotle, Domino's, and Taco Bell, have trialled AI software. Ms Shafiabady said AI would ultimately save businesses money but also reduce wait times. He said it would also take human error out of the equation, meaning orders would be more accurate and Aussies wouldn't have to turn their cars around and go back to claim a missing hamburger or chips. A Hungry Jack's spokesperson told Yahoo Finance the trial was put in place to see how effective AI technology was in helping 'service improvements'. Some Aussies online were outraged and worried about the new 'scary' AI technology and some even threatened to boycott Hungry Jack's over the trial. 'Goodbye to teenagers who need casual jobs,' one person said. 'How will kids get job experience with these jobs being replaced?' another said. 'You can't convince me all this investment in AI is cheaper than paying real wages,' a third said. Ms Shafiabady said the public would eventually accept AI's role in society. 'Even if they (Hungry Jack's) lose some of their customers in the beginning, people would get used to the technology,' she said. 'If you recall the first time that generative AI tools came to the market, like ChatGPT, people were not really comfortable using it. But now everybody's using them.' Other jobs that are expected to be impacted by AI in the next five years are bank tellers, cashiers, postal workers and administrative assistants, according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report. The report predicted about 170million new jobs would be created this decade while 92million would be lost. Ms Shafiabady said the jobs involving repetitive tasks were the ones that would be most likely to be taken over by AI. She also said that while there would be fewer entry-level jobs in the future, AI would open up new job opportunities, with roles in automation, cybersecurity experts and people needed to analyse data. 'That's the reality. The types of jobs of the future will be different from the types of jobs that we have had now, and we have had before,' she said. 'If you look back hundreds of years ago, the types of jobs were different, so we are evolving and the types of jobs will be changing.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Millions of Aussies warned as Hungry Jack's makes major drive-thru change: 'Disappear'
An artificial intelligence expert has warned Aussie fast-food workers their jobs may 'disappear' within the next 10 years. Fast-food chain Hungry Jack's is trialling the use of AI drive-thru assistants, leaving many to question where that leaves young people looking for casual jobs. Hungry Jack's has introduced a new 'digital voice-activated customer ordering system' at its St Peters store in Sydney. A spokesperson told Yahoo Finance it anticipated the trial would be rolled out to additional restaurants in the coming months. Niusha Shafiabady, associate professor in computational intelligence at Australian Catholic University, told Yahoo Finance retail jobs were 'very likely' to change in the near future as AI becomes more and more common. RELATED Gen Z job warning as new AI trend set to destroy 80 per cent of influencer industry Tradie reveals surprising industry where he makes '$300,000 to a million' a year Right to disconnect warning as worker sues former employer for $800,000 "At this stage, people are preparing our food, in the future robots will be preparing our food," she said. 'I would anticipate with the work that Elon Musk is doing in developing humanoid robots that even within the next 10 years people wouldn't be preparing our food. 'Those entry-level fast food jobs might disappear.' KFC also trialled AI drive-thru technology at selected Sydney stores last year, but stressed it wasn't replacing any jobs. Restaurants in the United States have also trialled AI software, with major chains like Wendy's, McDonald's, Chipotle, Domino's and Taco Bell among those signing contracts with tech providers. Shafiabady said the move allowed businesses to save money and would reduce wait times, along with increasing their order accuracy. A Hungry Jack's spokesperson told Yahoo Finance it's trial aimed to determine the effectiveness of the AI-powered technology to deliver "service improvements". Some customers have shared their confusion over the trial, with one calling it "scary" and others even threatening to "boycott" the chain over the move. Shafiabady said the technology might not go down well with customers initially. 'People at this stage might feel uncomfortable dealing with technology and they do not really trust the technology, but I would imagine that would be temporary,' she said. 'Even if they lose some of their customers in the beginning, people would get used to the technology. 'If you recall the first time that generative AI tools came to the market, like ChatGPT, people were not really comfortable using it. But now everybody's using them.' Shafiabady also flagged the potential risk of cyber attacks in the future. Bank tellers, cashiers, postal workers and administrative assistants are among the jobs forecast to drop by 2030, according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report. The Forum has estimated 170 million new jobs will be created in this decade, but this will be offset by the loss of 92 million jobs, leaving a net growth of 78 million by 2030. Shafiabady said jobs that involved performing repetitive tasks were the ones that would be displaced 'relatively quickly'. 'The first level of jobs that are at danger are the secretarial roles because you can have softwares that does the same thing for people,' she said. 'With the generative AI algorithms and tools that have become available, the tasks and jobs that are associated with them are at risk too. For example, translation. If someone was an interpreter their job would be at risk.' Shafiabady said she expects some technician-level jobs will also be overtaken in the future where their job involves working with a machine and analysing something. A number of Australians have raised concerns about replacing fast-food workers with AI. 'Goodbye to teenagers who need casual jobs,' one wrote. 'How will kids get job experience with these jobs being replaced?' another asked. 'You can't convince me all this investment in AI is cheaper than paying real wages,' another said. Shafiabady said it was important for young people to understand there would be fewer entry-level jobs in the future. 'Businesses are going to restructure their roles and focus on high-value tasks rather than entry-level jobs,' she said. But she said the rise of AI would open up new job opportunities, with specialists in automation, cybersecurity experts and those able to work with and analyse data expected to be needed. 'That's the reality. The types of jobs of the future will be different from the types of jobs that we have had now, and we have had before,' she said. 'If you look back hundreds of years ago, the types of jobs were different, so we are evolving and the types of jobs will be changing.'Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data
