The privately owned restaurant chain announced on Wednesday a partnership with startup Miso Robotics, based in Pasadena, California, will present Flippy, an automated kitchen assistant, at one of his Chicago-area restaurants in September.
“We are delighted to bring the future to our kitchen with solutions that will transform the industry and make White Castle experience everything it can be for future generations,” said Lisa Ingram, CEO of White Castle, in a statement.
An earlier version of Flippy, which uses artificial intelligence to decide when to flip a burger, was tested at Pasadena-based CaliBurger in 2018. White Castle is betting that this new variation will reduce the amount of time spent on tasks like grilling. and fry.
Flippy’s debut in a major fast food chain is renewing questions and concerns about automation in the food industry.
According to Miso, robotic fast food workers could prevent the spread of foodborne pathogens by using thermal imaging to detect when meat is undercooked. They would also help limit human workers’ exposure to food, reducing the chances of the spread of disease.
But automation inevitably raises concerns about taking jobs away from people. White Castle’s statement did not directly address whether Flippy would eventually replace human workers, saying only that employees would be released to focus on customer service and customer service operations.
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