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Walked into a grocery store deli and saw an AI predicting lunch rush orders

I was grabbing a sandwich at a Publix in Orlando last week and noticed a small screen near the slicer showing a countdown for how many roast beef wraps to prep. The deli manager told me it uses past sales data and local weather to guess demand within 15 minutes. Has anyone else seen these systems popping up in everyday places?
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3 Comments
michael_coleman10
Have you tried talking to the deli manager about how they handle those unexpected rushes?
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hannah_perry
Oh come on, is this really something to get excited about? I mean, an AI predicting sandwich demand feels like overkill for a deli counter. All that data crunching for roast beef wraps just sounds like a way for Publix to cut labor costs and push workers to prep more than they need to. Half the time those predictions are probably off anyway because they can't account for random events like a nearby event letting out early or a sudden rain shower. Why not just let the experienced deli staff use their gut feel? They've been doing this for years without a fancy screen telling them what to do.
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julia_anderson
Nah @hannah_perry, I actually think it could help staff plan better for the lunch rush.
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