Disney World has recently been testing self-checkout stations powered by artificial intelligence (AI). We have seen the testing happening at the food court of Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort.
NEW self-checkout system
While the machines are still in the testing phase, it is possible that we could see these machines spread to more food courts in hopes of making checkout more efficient. We asked you what you thought about these new self-checkout machines being tested, and you all didn’t hold back!
If testing goes well, these new AI self-checkout machines could find their way to more places at Disney World. We stopped by when they were first rolled out at Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort, and we could see there would be a bit of a learning curve for the machines. We grabbed a kids’ Mickey Waffle meal, and when we got to the machine, it rang up as a pulled pork sandwich. Not exactly the same thing…at all. Luckily, a Cast Member was quick to help fix the mistake, but we wanted to know what our readers thought about these machines!
Scanning our meal
One of the biggest complaints we saw about the testing is that our readers are NOT happy that these machines could eventually replace Cast Members. Like most self-checkout machines, these replace some of the Cast Members on the register and only have one or so Cast Members monitoring all the machines. While they are supposed to help make check-out more efficient, it is obvious that lots of people will miss their interactions with the Cast Members. Maries wrote, “Nothing can replace people!” Susan agreed, saying, “We need cast members magic smile.”
Cast Member at Casey’s Corner
Pat doesn’t like the idea of these machines rolling out more locations as they will be “taking jobs away from CMs.” Kevin said that he likes “having a cast member to talk to. You can meet some really nice cast members and have a good conversation, and you may even learn something about the parks or even learn something about the cast members. It just makes it a little bit more magical when I’m spending all my money.”
Cast Member at Food & Wine Festival
Not only were our readers concerned about these machines replacing Cast Members, but many were also concerned with how well the machines would work and whether they would truly make the checkout process more efficient. Steve said he supports self-checkout when people are familiar with the store, but not so much at Disney. “They may not have been there in years, maybe their first time. On top of that, especially in Orlando, a high percentage of guests come from different languages and cultures. Cast Members are integral to the Disney experience. They are priceless. A couple of AI lines for bloggers and locals might be OK, but several lines of live Cast Members will still be necessary.”
AI Self-Checkout
Jake also thinks that these machines are not accurate enough. He wrote that “AI is already so inaccurate with online search and image generation. I don’t trust it all with ringing up my purchase and accurately charging me. Also, it just feels icky using a machine that will eventually take jobs away from the cast members.” As well, Ilze chimed in “It seems redundant considering a cast member still stands there monitoring it. The money spent on that tech could’ve been used to give that CM a raise.”
AI Self-Checkout
We saw first-hand that these machines were not the most accurate, but with AI technology, they will become more accurate the longer they are in use. Even if they become more accurate, they are still no replacement for the Cast Members checking you out! As our readers also wrote, there is something special about Cast Members, and we love talking to them, even if it is just while we are checking out. Only time will tell if the self-checkout machines become more widespread.
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It’s horrifyingly sad to me that some folks would rather use a soulless touch pad to make their purchases than helping a human keep their job and stand in line a bit.
With the increasing labor costs, Disney, like other large comapnies,, is looking for ways to control cost. If they get to where the AI machines are as accurate as people, I don’t have a problem with the technology.