It is a matter of expertise more than anything else.
The world is currently abuzz with AI talk. So much so that publicly traded companies are being penalized by shareholders during earnings calls for not mentioning AI enough. All this AI talk is expected given we are likely experiencing another computer/dot.com revolution, and no one wants to be on the wrong side. There is no question that Artificial Intelligence will become a prominent part of our lives from now on. However, some industries have experienced an almost world-changing revolution overnight, while others seem to be lagging and, in some cases, even regressing. The restaurant industry is still in its infancy stage when it comes to AI.
So why is the restaurant industry behind by comparison? There are two answers: money and expertise.
New bleeding-edge technology is just that—it is bleeding. This is in stark contrast to all the industries investing heavily in AI. Take Sam Altman’s (CEO of OpenAI) quote on this: “Whether we burn $500 million, $5 billion, or $50 billion a year, I don’t care.” His sentiment is not unique within the tech industry. They understand it takes a hefty, lengthy investment before any profit comes to fruition. The restaurant industry, as a whole, does not have the luxury to wait decades, or even years, to throw good money at something that may still be bad. Therefore, the restaurant space must benefit from trickle-down technology, where secondary use cases pop up as a byproduct. Some companies that service the restaurant industry are trying to take advantage of some of these byproducts by investing heavily in a solution.
The other main reason restaurants are lagging in the AI space is due to the expertise of the developers. To use a simple analogy – if a plumber invented a new tool to remove debris from pipes, they would likely do a much better job than a mathematician who had never done any plumbing work before. Not to say that some highly intelligent people can’t create things by observing, but those strokes of genius are few and far between.
We can bet the experienced plumber has built-in enough knowledge to design exactly what is needed. The same principle applies here to the restaurant industry. As the operators, managers, franchisees, cooks, chefs, baristas, etc., are the clear experts in their field, they should be the ones designing the algorithms and AI models. Unfortunately, unless they leave their fields behind and devote the next decade to coding, programming, and advanced statistics/algebra, it will be difficult to create something useful. There is a reason the huge advancements in AI are hitting the very people who work in the space the most.
Let’s take a quick step back. When the talk of AI became more prevalent five to eight years ago, the accepted theory was that AI would replace the menial, low-skill jobs first and the creative and high-skill jobs last. For example, AI would replace cashiers, truck drivers, coal miners, janitors, fast-food workers, etc., first, and way down the line, it would eventually—if at all—disrupt creators, scientists, doctors, lawyers, and engineers.
Well, it just so happens that, to the surprise of the entire industry, the first jobs displaced are precisely the engineers, computer programmers, and artists/digital creators. We found out that easy tasks are not so easy after all. The reason, though, I argue, is that the people who have been making advancements in AI are using their current knowledge and, therefore, can design the system from within with amazing accuracy. Are we surprised computer programmers are being displaced by AI? They are the ones who programmed the AI and gave unfettered knowledge and data to build the very system. Of course it will resemble their work the most! If the coal miners were programming and fitting data to an AI daily, hundreds of thousands of miners worldwide for over a decade, I am sure that AI would know exactly what to do when it comes to mining for coal. The entire theory of which jobs AI would displace first was wrong, and it’s due to the expertise of the designers. Like the old saying: a great leader replaces himself by raising other great leaders. Computer programmers raised their AI, and it’s now starting to replace them.
The delay in AI adoption within the restaurant industry highlights the challenges restaurants face in leveraging cutting-edge technology to improve operations. With limited resources and a lack of specialized expertise, restaurants must carefully navigate the intersection of innovation and practicality to ensure AI solutions are effective and sustainable.
Bruno Mota is the co-founder and CEO of Pembroke & Co., the superior solution for loss prevention, operational excellence, and recruiting services. Mota brings a wealth of knowledge to the quick-service restaurant industry; working with multi-unit owners to increase revenue, improve profits, and limit risk.
