IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2016 - 7

that the driver of the vehicle would
made redundant altogether. I've
the checkout, connecting the local
need to pull up, get out of the car,
tried the Kiosk several times... and
community? Where has this "serve
pour the petrol himself/herself, and
each time I've felt like I'm jumpyourself" attitude come from? And
pay at the counter. (Figure 1). There
ing the queue, because I have the
why? Who is it really helping? I
were no signs saying "do it yourknow-how to do so. Every single
don't know about you, but I find
self," nor were there commercials
time, I've tried to get to the counit eerie, walking into a supermaron television. We just all realized
ter to order food, I've been asked
ket with all the checkout counters,
that attendants for that function had
by a clerk whether I'd like to place
and fewer and fewer people behind
been completely displaced, and we
an order at the Kiosk instead. My
them. It won't be long before there
observed the driver of the vehicle in
response is "I like people. I'd rathare no counters, no need to physifront of us at the petrol station, and
er order over there." Of course they
cally handle any cash, and no
did likewise. There were no humans
are just following instructions, and
people out there, maybe not even
waiting for us at the petrol bowser
so are we. Most of us believe those
shoppers [11]. We are surely under(gas pump) any longer. You could
instructions, and turn up to the
going a transition. The question
wait in your car as long as you wantKiosk like a drone would. "Nod,
is whether it is unlike any change
ed, no one was going to come...
nod. Order online at the kiosk. Yes,
we've ever been through before as
McDonalds has been undergoa happy meal. Credit card. Paya "society." During the industrial
ing the same kind of change over
ment complete. Receipt. Finished."
revolution, new factors of producthe last few years (Figure 2(a)-(c)).
Just like my first LOGO program.
tion were introduced; machines
They've tr ied having roa ming
The same happens when we
that together with human operacashiers who order on PDAs so
walk into a supermarket. There
tors would increase outputs. In
you don't have to queue up. But
are fewer people at the checkimages from that period, we see for
the latest change that seems likely
outs these days, if any. Have you
example, how machines changed
to stick is the touch-screen kiosk.
noticed? We are being conditioned
the way the textile industry worked.
When you enter a store now in
to move toward the auto checkBut there were still more human
Australia, rather than queuing up
out Kiosk due to fewer check-out
operators than machines. Today, it
at the counter where you would
staff and as a result longer queues.
seems, there are considerably fewer
have traditionally been greeted by
Another self-service counter (yet
human operators per machine. We
people, there is usually a clerk hovagain): "A, B, C. Scan. Pay. Receipt.
need only consider CISCO's sober
ering near a touch-screen kiosk
Done." Whatever happened to peoestimate of 50 billion devices by
luring you to place an order and
ple helping people? To face-to-face
2020 connected to the Internet of
automatically pay for your food
contact? What about those spontaThings [12], compared to a project[10]. The McDonald clerk stands
neous conversations that happen at
ed 7.75 billion people.
by, in case you don't know
how to use the machine,
so that the next time it
gets easier, and becomes
more natural, taking less
time. So you have human
c a sh ier s, teaching the
customer to do their job,
using a machine. There
is an irony in this. For the
greater part, McDonalds
wants us interacting less
with their staff, and more
with machines, so the real
check out itself is eventual(a)
(b)
(c)
ly "unmanned," and those
cashiers who once worked
FIguRE 2. (a) McDonalds ATM at Chaangi Airport, Singapore 2005. (b) McDonalds clerk with PDA
at the counter are shifted
ordering customer food in Singapore 2005. (c) Selfservice Kiosk, Albion Park, NSW, Australia, 2016.
to back-end operations, or
Photos courtesy Katina Michael.
june 2016

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