[_mitterpach]

Edge computing will enable applications like predicting when kitchen equipment—such as fryers and its notorious McFlurry ice cream machines—is likely to break down, Rice said.

It is not hard to know if a machine is broken. There is an entire map dedicated to this, which shows state-wide broken rate as high as 40% for some states.

https://mcbroken.com/

If you know these machines are broken and they are not being fixed, what use will be to know what machines will break in the future? This is not a technology problem, this is a business and people problem. Another case of companies using AI to garner positive marketing, instead of improving their service and customer's experience.

[janalsncm]

You don’t even need that. An employee can report it as broken.

I am guessing the systems will be used for something like this: https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/25/y-combinator-deletes-posts...

Surveilling employees is a potential use case for AI. It’s not one I’m particularly fond of, and I wouldn’t want to build it, but I know how it could be done at a technical level.

[Ukv]

To be fair, up until recently copyright/DMCA prevented them from repairing the ice cream machines - I'd give it some time to see if things start to improve. Other kitchen equipment does seem to generally be fixed/replaced promptly enough to not typically cause major impact.

Sensors on the equipment seems reasonable to me. Predicting failure in advance can avoid downtime or more costly damage. Machines with degrading performance and some underlying issue can also be a food safety issue, if it isn't addressed until they entirely fail.

[crooked-v]

> up until recently copyright/DMCA prevented them from repairing the ice cream machines

That's a red herring. The actual thing preventing them is the franchise contracts that require all ice cream machine maintenance be performed by a specific company, because McD's corporate knows that otherwise franchisees will cut corners and leave the brand associated with listeria outbreaks.

[ccnjfkggkkcj]

Isn't that Apple's argument for not allowing you to get your battery replaced by a 3rd party, because customers might buy a cheap off brand battery and it could cause their phone to catch fire?

[crooked-v]

Yes. The difference is that, unlike possible phone fires, we know franchises will cause listeria outbreaks if left to their own devices because they have done so. It was a whole thing in the 90s and the obvious reason why McD's implemented the current policy in the first place.

[pessimizer]

> To be fair, up until recently copyright/DMCA prevented them from repairing the ice cream machines

Was that the story, or was the story that McDonald's was using copyright/DMCA in order to prevent their franchisees from repairing the ice cream machines?

[nedrylandJP]

I've just picked up a fault in the AE-35 unit. It's going to go 100% failure within 72 hours.

[k12sosse]

This is how the F-35 works.

[smegsicle]

why don't you explain how the f-35 works then smart guy

[TylerE]

A machine about to break down is not a machine that HAS broken down. Predictive (but preventative!) is an active area of research in industrial circles.

[mystified5016]

Anyone who has ever worked any restaurant will tell you that "likely to break soon" is NOT "broken" and no action will be taken until the latter condition is met.

Maybe.

[TZubiri]

You misunderstand, it's not to detect when a machine is broken, but to predict when it will break before it does.

You really think you had some novel map mcdonalds didn't have access to lol