Maybe CA can utilize AI in the food industry to offset that $20 an hour min wage?
Fast food chains are working on that. So are food suppliers. AI isn't necessary for fast food chains...just a series of robotics and accountants.
But essentially what is coming is just a kiosk and a window. No more people except to reload the freezers and coolers.
What the holdup is the cost of the machines and the food.
Food has to be more uniform. (Lettuce, buns, burgers and chicken nuggets aren't the problem as much as some of the other items.) Packaging that the machines can handle is one issue. A complaint about plastic in the food cannot be handled by a machine....has to be handled by a person. Same with a drink served in a crushed cup or one that has a hole in it.
So....these things are issues. The machines need someone who can repair simple things on a daily basis while they are operating. Make simple adjustments. But do no cooking or serving. That's about it. But it requires a good bit of training to accomplish this and $20/hr is not going to even start to cover that one person's wages. More like $35-40/hr.
And then there's a huge problem. You cannot send someone out to work alone that way. Too many issues. They can get hurt without anyone's knowledge...spend all day doing nothing but surfing on their phone....any number of problems arise.