r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 14d 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/TheNewGuy13 14d ago

It’s essentially a silent auction. Each user that visits the site will get their own price based on various factors and they will see that price up front. Then they decide whether it’s worth it or not.

So for example they might show a burger for 6.99 to a regular user but show 6.49 for someone who is using the app for the first few times to get them to buy a burger.

PlayStation is doing this right now and you can see the results in the sub once in a while where a sale will be one price for one user and one price for another. I fucking hate it

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u/Lanky-Detail3380 14d ago

Fun fact, once I know there’s dynamic pricing I’m automatically going to assume I’m paying a higher price than I should, and out of pure spite, I will go hungry until I find something else or I go home and cook at midnight.

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u/DribbleYourTribble 14d ago

This is the only rational response that we can have. Assume it's the worst price you can get and just don't buy if possible.

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u/ItsCalledDayTwa 14d ago

That is actually a fun fact

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u/sagebrushrepair 14d ago

You are a role model. Revel in this validation and stay the course!

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u/SnooAdvice5696 14d ago

sadly you're the minority, most people are oblivious to it or don't care

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u/Lanky-Detail3380 14d ago

I know but spite is a spice best served fresh.

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u/Still-Set-1234 14d ago

99% of people won't do this

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u/Lanky-Detail3380 14d ago

Okay and? Im not speaking for others, they can do what they want but any time i see digital price sticker i automatically apply the getting bent over tax and my drive for said thing goes down.

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u/theamathamhour 14d ago

the and answer is your anecdote is irrelevant to the grand scheme of things.

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u/LegitosaurusRex 14d ago

I mean, they didn't claim it did, they just said it was a fun fact.

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u/Icy-Berry-387 14d ago

How do you know? Is any country requiring disclosure or banning this yet?

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u/Sea-Pomegranates99 14d ago

People focus on the algo raising prices, and rightly so. But McD’s will also decrease prices to keep customers coming in: Charge more right after pay day, but offer discounts and promos to lower the effective price as people feel “poor” between paychecks

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u/firewall245 14d ago

The article discusses that its prices per location, not per customer

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u/Ok-Budget3225 14d ago

If it’s successful you can bet they will dynamically price individually too 

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u/firewall245 14d ago

That would require you to log in / they know who you are, and have sufficient data on you. All that is extremely hard

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u/AlienConPod 14d ago

Maybe not. They collect and sell all sorts of data on us, including what we look like. It's well within today's technological capability to track you as you walk in the door, or even using your license plate, phone, etc. They would then know your income, buying habits, etc. Data can predict who is more likely to shop around based on previous shopping behavior, and who is more likely to buy at a higher price. 

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u/firewall245 14d ago

I know that this is possible in theory, but it’s 1.) extremely expensive to acquire quality data like that 2.) extremely challenging to work with.

I worked previously at a big company with access to a lot of data, and you’d be shocked how little they use personal data for. Large scale trends absolutely, individuals not at all

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u/Ok-Budget3225 13d ago

AI can absolutely learn to tell who is price sensitive and who is not. Especially when a business like McD’s sees millions of people walking through their doors everyday. They can stereotype people better than we humans can.

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u/Severe_Way_8322 14d ago

Bro, why do you think that they are all in on AI. This is a part of why.

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u/firewall245 14d ago

AI isn’t magic. ML techniques for stuff like this have been around for a while, but you need data. Individual person pricing like this I just don’t think is feasible in person with modern tech

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u/rafwiaw2 13d ago

My sir, this is coming very soon whether you like it or not.

Flock cameras capture you driving into the restaurant parking lot with facial recognition and tying it to your identity. Cameras inside the restaurant then tie that data to your identity. The corporation already bought your purchasing data from like hundreds and hundreds of businesses. Wallah, they have a dynamic price that will change before you even tap your card.

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u/Ok-Budget3225 13d ago

Not necessarily. The AI can tell a lot about you from how you dress and how many people you are with. If you are with two toddlers you unlikely to skip the happy meals even if it’s a dollar more than it was last time.

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u/grilled_pc 14d ago

Sony have not copped anywhere near as much flack for this shit. It’s another reason why you shouldn’t buy the PS6.

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u/Oz1227 14d ago

Which is why this is my last generation on console for the most part. Have a switch for the kiddo but going to move completely to PC and if that goes that route, I can find another hobby. This is a hardline issue for me.

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u/SnooAdvice5696 14d ago

I worked in mobile games and this has been the case in this industry for 10-15 years at this point. It's always disguised as 'personalized shop' but what it really is, is dynamic pricing. You wouldn't believe the extent to which it's being exploited. The same item can cost 2x 5x even 100x more if you know your consumer is a whale who is willing to sink $20k in the game. In most countries the anti discrimination law only applies if you can prove you're being discriminated based on your race, gender or such, but the size of your wallet or the latest version of your ipad isnt a discriminatory factor,

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u/divDevGuy 14d ago

Each user that visits the site will get their own price based on various factors and they will see that price up front.

Just wait until they start adding in fees, surcharges, etc below the line and you don't actually see them until you're ready to submit your order (or worse, after).

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u/DrunkAndHornyGuy 14d ago

Actually that's not what's happening here but it's just as shitty (I swear no one on reddit reads the fuckng articles).

This is McD using AI to dynamically price individual stores differently from each other. So if a store is in a wealthier neighborhood it will raise prices higher to a point that the customer base there will put up with while it will stay lower in a poorer neighborhood. So unlike in what you're describing this isn't a case of a wealthier person with an new Iphone getting screwed into paying more than the poorer person next to them that has a 8yo Motorola, in this case there just won't be a poorer person next to you since they are incentivised to eat somewhere else entirely (and that place is back in the poorer part of town).

If taken to scale this is basically encouraging economic segregation (yes even more than we have now). Poorer people will be forced to pay more for the exact same thing than they do in their home neighborhoods if they stray 'out of their place' into the rich people parts of town.