Illinois has some of thestiffest biometric privacy lawsin the US.
The lawsuit apparently stems from the companys use of automated drive-thru order takers in the form of chatbots.
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From a purely business-oriented POV, McDonalds might not be in as bad a position as it appears.
Whats an eight-figure lawsuit to company worth nearly $200 billion?
The perfect storm
Autonomous robotics technology is nothing new.
Today it powers automotive factories and the garment manufacturing industry.
Weve certainly heard a lot aboutburger-flipping robotsandthe end of entry-level jobsfor the past decade.
The majority of discourse on automation focuses on the one-for-one human costs of replacement.
And with each passing year, AI endeavors make up a greater portion of their profits and net worth.
The most apt comparison might be Facebook.
McDonalds servesapproximately one percent of the global populationon a daily basis.
Facebook, by contrast, reachesapproximately 25% of the population.
Lets imagine a new McDonalds where the food no longer costs money.
Like Facebook, all youd have to do is sign up and create a profile.
Then, you could either go to a McDonalds location to pick up food or request a delivery.
You might be tasked with ordering via voice or handwriting, so the system can capture your biometric data.
Whatever data McDonalds could gather would be worth a fortune.
Its already a globally recognized brand with more than 38,000 locations in 100 countries.
The reason why so many big tech companies have pivoted to AI is because its a trillionaires market.
Could McDonalds turn feeding the hungry into the next big global data-gathering endeavor?
What would you do for a free cheeseburger?
