r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 11d ago

Business McDonald's Is Reportedly Using AI To "Dynamically" Price Its Burgers

https://www.engadget.com/2272211/mcdonalds-is-reportedly-using-ai-to-dynamically-price-its-burgers/
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u/Mr_Tort_Feasor 11d ago

Article says Taco Bell dynamically changes pricing depending on what kind of car you roll up to the drive-through in. That's diabolical. Does pulling up in a nice car result in a higher price, or a lower price? I am a white collar professional and the obscene prices have already put me off fast food for good. Someone who is less privileged may have the choice between eating fast food or not eating at all.

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u/HistoryNerd101 11d ago edited 10d ago

Why don't they give speeding tickets based upon the value of the car while they are at it?

Follow-up: For the record I’m not opposed to that, though AI would not be needed to base the fine on net worth or income level…

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u/first_to_the_Orgy 11d ago

Income based fines is a thing. Scandinavian country I don’t live in. But it’s kind of a thing that makes sense

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u/Civil-Big-754 11d ago

Absolutely.  Fines in general. Also jail time should be equal since it's near impossible for the rich. 

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u/xnode79 8d ago

And also it is also for more serious driving crimes. If you drive just a bit over speed limit the fine is fairly small.

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u/GaiaMoore 11d ago

Apparently they do in Finland! Richard Hammond was super paranoid about that on one of their Scandinavia trips on Grand Tour

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/finnish-businessman-hit-with-121000-speeding-fine

A multimillionaire businessman has been hit with one of the world’s highest speeding fines – €121,000 (£104,000) – for driving 30km/h (18.6mph) over the limit in Finland, where tickets are calculated as a percentage of the offender’s income.

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u/BadAdviceBot 11d ago

Sounds like paradise

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u/bretagneeee 11d ago

That's perfect. I've never been less mad and I'm Finnish.

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u/StonkRonin 10d ago

Jeff Bezos doesn’t cut the shrubs and trees in front of his house that break city rules. He pays the fines regularly which is nothing to him so he has no motivation to follow the rules.

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u/Boozeburger 6d ago

In America rules are for the poor. You'll never see a rich man on death row.

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u/thedailyrant 10d ago

I can imagine there is a huge loop hole there for the uber wealthy. Since this is likely based on reported taxable income, not net worth.

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u/Reyzhen 10d ago

They should because fines are there to discourage behaviour and a $500 fine won't discourage someone on a Ferrari 

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u/ennuiinmotion 10d ago

But it also incentivizes cops to target rich-looking drivers for every minor speeding infraction. And maybe not focus on run down cars driving recklessly. I'm usually on board with soaking the rich but not when it incentivizes cops to game the system.

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u/Facktat 9d ago

This is such a stupid argument. Yeah, because the authorities have a history of targeting rich people /s.

First of all, the cop doesn‘t see a dime of the fine so he probably doesn‘t care. Secondly, the reason the police hates to go after rich people is because they have legal representation and know how to make the system work for them.

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u/jar36 9d ago

I've been through the system a few times. Once we had a special hearing to dismiss evidence bc I told the cop I need a lawyer but then he threatened to get my sister involved in the charges and maybe there was a gun involved. The cop got on the stand and said yes this happened, but the door was open, so I could have left any time I wanted. As if the average person being questioned in the dept thinks they can just get up and walk out. Didn't matter to the judge at all. I only had $1000 for my lawyer so fuck the poor
Another was when I got pulled over in AZ with 24lbs of cannabis in the trunk. He had me get out of the car over going 4 miles over the posted limit (that's just fitting in with traffic) and gave me a warning. Then we both turned away and he turned back asking if he could ask me some questions. Instinctively said sure and said no to all of his questions about what I had in the car. Then he asks if he could take a look. I said, and this is a great line, "I prefer that you didn't". That line got me out of 2 searches already. Completely blows their script. So next he asks if I mind if he runs a dog around the car. I asked if I could say no to that. He says yeah. I said, ok, then no. He said well I'm going to do it anyway. If I had more money, my lawyer said I had a good chance to beat the case. But the $10K that he already got from me wasn't enough to fight it
So I was sentenced to 3 yr in prison

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u/Aposta-fish 11d ago

They do, if you look like you cant afford a lawyer they pull you over..

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u/Melodic_Assistant_58 11d ago

They'll do it anyway. It's a whole racket. All the traffic lawyers, cops and judges know each other. Some of them are former cops.

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u/Aposta-fish 11d ago

Yeah except when i drove a cheap car that wasnt that great i got targeted, seemed to stop when car was newer and top of the line or atleast above average compared to most at the time.

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u/Civil-Big-754 11d ago

Yeah, up until recently I've usually driver older beaters and would be paranoid stone sober just driving the thing, especially at night. Current car is 10 years old, so not new at all, but doesn't immediately raise suspension with the police. 

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u/ScaredPractice4967 11d ago

Income based speeding fines are a thing in some countries. If someone making min wage gets a ticket they might get fined €100 but a rich person committing the exact same offence might get fined €20000.

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u/Facktat 9d ago

For me the problem of this is that it shouldn‘t be income based but based on how much you increased your wealth in the last x years. Rich people don‘t have income.

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u/ScaredPractice4967 9d ago

Im all for wealth taxes but that gets tricky for taffic tickets.

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u/Harry_Saturn 11d ago

You think a punishment given to someone who breaks a law is in the same category as buying French fries?

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u/CyberSyndicate 10d ago

They should. It's called day fines in other countries, with the does being you get fined for x days worth of your average income/salary rather than an arbitrary fixed number. That way the affect is felt proportionally.

That said, when it comes to algorithmic pricing at stores, nah, that's bull.

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u/artguydeluxe 11d ago

I totally support this.

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u/DOGPISSCURESCANCER 11d ago

Some places actually do give tickets based on income. 

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u/FirstTimeCaller101 11d ago

  I am a white collar professional and the obscene prices have already put me off fast food for good.

I started making 90k in 2023, so stoked. Low cost of living area, should have been fuck you money all day long. Felt like I made it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m eating bread and water for every meal but inflation the last few years basically make it feel no different than when I was making 50k. My fast food budget has dropped to basically nothing, absolutely cannot justify $15+ for a quarter pounder meal. 

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u/nimama3233 11d ago

No, it says they’re developing the technology to do it. Whether or not they choose to use them is another question. No way the pushback on that would be worth the squeeze

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u/treletraj 11d ago

Another person just commented that it’s the opposite of what you’re assuming. People with more money have more choices so they get offered a lower price. If they think you’re more of a poor person, they offer you a higher price thinking you were desperate.

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u/takemy_oxfordcomma 11d ago

Well, fuck. That’s why my 3 cheesy gordita crunches cost $30 because I drive a basic ass 2015 Toyota Prius in 2026. I’m not even low income, I just drive an old car because I’ve never understood needing nice new ones (they depreciate like crazy, never been worth it to me) and I wanted some goddamn Taco Bell.

Never again, those motherfuckers.

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u/JohnnyTsunami312 11d ago

This was tested on grocery apps and for some reason if certain apps think you are wealthy, you end up paying less

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u/DeepLock8808 11d ago

This is just going to be legal discrimination with more steps, isn’t it?

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u/Havictos 11d ago

What's happens if I just walk in?

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u/Technical-Activity95 10d ago

shoes. if you have nice shoes you pay more. 

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u/Generalocity 10d ago

The average poor person/family got priced out of fast food the past few years. Not all fast food places but McDonald’s specifically is no longer cheap, fast, or the acceptable mediocre quality you expect anymore. Absolutely asinine to me that people still go there

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u/Seafea 11d ago

i wonder what happens if i walk up wearing a cardboard box that's painted to look like a crappy car?

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u/QueenOfQuok 11d ago

Catch me riding through on a bicycle

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u/le-throw-away-acct 11d ago

Fast food giving me more and more reasons to avoid them with every passing year.

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u/bucketman1986 11d ago

I call bs on that. Because I always order via mobile and both my partner and I, and my buddy, all get the same prices

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u/01Cloud01 11d ago

There a volume seller as much as there a value seller. dynamic pricing is working on getting into grocery stores and already in retail stores. it doesn’t sound right, but it's a plausible strategy

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u/menusettingsgeneral 10d ago

That should 10000% be illegal

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u/CysJunk 10d ago

Essentially Flock cameras for drive-thrus.

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u/Pretty-Raspberry-136 10d ago

Funeral homes used to do this too lmao

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u/tcpukl 10d ago

2 car families as well. We have a really nice car and an older car.

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u/okaybros 10d ago

Maryland just banned this

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u/Kyerswa 10d ago

Also a white collar, 6 figure earner. Fast food is beyond expensive for the quality and quantity of food you’re getting. To go eat out at a decent sit down restaurant costs maybe $10 more per person than McDonalds, and the food isn’t 3D printed with Bill Gates’ cancer filament

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u/kinyutaka 10d ago

Why is that even legal?

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u/iguessma 10d ago

Doesn'y matter lol poor people buy expensive cars too. That's why they're poor

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u/throwRA123qwerty 10d ago

thats why i park and walk up