The robot uprising is not beginning with a bang, but a whisper. Skynet has not launched the nukes, nor is an angry T-1000 firing military-grade weaponry in a downtown office park. Instead, head out in Atlanta, and you might see a humble robot out on its rounds, delivering chicken to hungry customers.
Yes, the latest player in the autonomous driving space is sometimes controversial, usually tasty restaurant chain Chick-Fil-A. The chicken brand has been developing a robot to handle home food deliveries, and they’re already out and about in the real world. It’s no footpath-crawler, either—these things are out on the roads mingling with real traffic.
Indeed, one Twitter user was astounded to pull up behind one of the diminutive robots as it crossed multiple lanes of traffic in Atlanta, Georgia this week. It raises a serious question. Will Tesla, Waymo, or Cruise master autonomous driving? Or will the chicken bots be the first to safely navigate real roads with impunity?
Had no idea Chick-fil-A had their own autonomous vehicles. This in Atlanta area. @WholeMarsBlog pic.twitter.com/ayJ2Hq8X9l
— techman (@techman01) June 30, 2024
You might not have heard of it before, but Chick-Fil-A has been at this for some time. It issued a press release back in 2022, regarding its development of autonomous delivery robots and their deployment in Texas. The rollout to Georgia began approximately a year later, in June 2023. The company’s pilot program is being undertaken in partnership with Refraction AI, an Austin-based company that specializes in autonomous delivery solutions. Previously, Chick-Fil-A worked with Kiwibot on an earlier test program in California around 2021.
Chick-Fil-A’s first Refraction AI vehicles were three-wheelers, capable of travelling at up to 15 miles an hour. They ran bike-like wheels and tires with disc brakes. Chick-Fil-A stated that they could navigate both footpaths and malls, as well as car and bike lanes where necessary. The program began with human “safety chasers” following the vehicles, though it seems that’s no longer a requirement for current operations.
However, more recent videos have shown a new four-wheeled ‘bot that’s ultimately far cuter than the original design. Much of that comes down to its cute widdle face, with its round eyes and little notched mouth. It’s a tall, narrow design that appears to have a sensor package on top. Food is apparently accessed through a hatch in the front. Crucially, it appears the robot’s cargo bay is designed to separate cold drinks from hot food to preserve freshness. It’s something that so many delivery operations get badly wrong.
Perhaps the most shocking thing is that Chick-Fil-A is not crowing louder about this service. The latest ‘bots are very personable, and they’re obviously out doin’ their robot thang. And yet, it’s almost impossible to find any press resources or releases about the latest fleet! Chick-Fil-A, are you… embarrassed by your hard-working robot friends?
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS??
Chick-fil-A robot providing food delivery to a family! ???? pic.twitter.com/AEUCjXo66u— Texas ???????? (@MustangMan_TX) May 28, 2024
In any case, I wrote to Chick-Fil-A for more background on the latest ‘bots and to see if they had photos and, kind of surprisingly, they didn’t.
“We don’t have any assets to share at the moment,” a spokesperson told us. “But what I can tell you is that, as you note, a small number of Chick-fil-A restaurants in the Southeast are testing these autonomous delivery robots as a way to assist Team Members and to help increase efficiency in the restaurant.”
I also wrote to the Georgia DoT for more info on how these things are allowed to use public roads, so more on that when we get it.
I’m not in Georgia, so I can’t order Chick-Fil-A via robot to snap pictures or videos of my own. However, if you’re near enough to one of the restaurants, you might like to make an order and see what it’s really like to get your chicken delivered by machine. If you do, snap some pics, drop us a line and we’ll share your report far and wide.
Just remember. First, the robots came for our chicken. Then, they came for our very lives. Stay safe out there.
Image credits: sean2012cjzion27 via YouTube screenshot
See, living in a country where we don’t have this fast food chain, I thought it was pronounced “Chick Filler”, which I thought sounded like a really lame stage name for a male porn star.
Well, thanks to Google I now know how to pronounce it and what food they sell. It sounds like we’re not missing out on much over here. Save for the opportunity to order a chicken sandwich then send the robot back to the store with a drunk friend, or other objectionable item, riding inside.
SKYNET! SKYNET IS HAPPENING!
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
RUN TO THE HILLS! (Iron Maiden)
This is dumb, and also to that AI firm: AI is a joke(Artificial Stupidity)
Just ask Torch how stupid it is
Also, Chick Fil-A sucks and is overrated
Do the bots run on Sunday?
They probably would, but the kitchen that fills them probably won’t…
Maybe if you like your fast food a day old….
Accidentally had volume on for the inserted twitter videos. Reminded me quickly of why I 99.9% browse with mute on. Are humans really as stupid sounding as everyone in twitter videos?
Damn you, clouds!!
Since I try not to spend money at places that turn around and spend it to work against my rights I find it quite resistible.
For the folks here who know what they do and are somehow proud of your CFA warrior status: it tells me that you agree with their stance that I and those like me are less-than.
I seriously doubt that you’ve been treated poorly at any ChickFilA location.
Bud, we get it. My comment was aimed at you.
Caught that… however, my comment still stands.
Worked at CFA for years and only one customer in my entire time there was treated differently than any other patron, and that was a Karen who would regularly scream at us through the drive thru and hold up the line. She was told it was no longer “our pleasure” to serve her.
I worked with tons of different people there; people of different races, religions, sexual preferences, etc. and no one was treated with disrespect. Same went with our customers. The goal was always to serve a quality product with quality customer service.
Sure, maybe some of CFA’s profits go to some foundations that have more traditional Christian values, but most of their profits go to foundations that help people and communities. You’d be hard pressed to find a fast food chain that does more good for the most people.
Just not “those” people. I know.
Whatever makes you sleep at night, I guess. You’re okay with bigotry – that’s fine, but please don’t obfuscate your choice. We aren’t dumb.
…says the dude who is politicizing chicken.
I’m politicizing politics. Your attempt at feigning naivety isn’t nearly as clever as you think.
No, like most leftoid bigots, you are completely convinced in the righteous nature of your cause, utterly unable to comprehend that different people have different opinions driven by different experiences, and totally consumed by hatred for anyone who disagrees.
The fact that this intolerance ironically makes you just a single step removed from Dick Cheney will never stop being funny to me.
Be a better person, not a hate-filled loser.
Oh, everyone understands that different people have different experiences as a result of what Chik-fil-a funds. That’s the whole point. Clearly you’re fine with that since it’s people you don’t like getting the negative end of it and not you, but trying to justify it by calling people intolerant bigots is just over-the-top ridiculous.
Hey, free market and all that, right? Facts are that the Cathy family (including current COO of CFA, Dan Cathy, donate millions of dollars to organization and PACs that push anti-LGBTQ equality issues. When Mike Huckabee is on your side, you’re on the wrong side.
Sadly, Rippstik is either a troll or so utterly clueless that discussion is probably pointless. They’ve already expressed that they don’t understand that actions have consequences or meaning, which is a pretty basic concept.
The point isn’t who does the grunt work and how they act as individuals towards individuals. The point is the owners and how they use their profit made off the backs of those doing the grunt work to manipulate systems and infrastructure to target groups.
I’m glad for all of the CFA haters out there…leaves more room in the drive thru for the rest of us.
Spicy chicken sandwich meal, kale salad, and Lemonade please. And for all the haters, ChickFilA used to just license their recipes before they opened their own restaurants. Waffle House actually sold their chicken first.