- AI Design Proposal
- Posts
- Designers Won't Be Replaced by AI? 3 Truths from McDonald's Case
Designers Won't Be Replaced by AI? 3 Truths from McDonald's Case
Jack Anderson
July 31, 2025 • Read Time: 8 minutes
In partnership with
Join 400,000+ executives and professionals who trust The AI Report for daily, practical AI updates.
Built for business—not engineers—this newsletter delivers expert prompts, real-world use cases, and decision-ready insights.
No hype. No jargon. Just results.
Start your creative journey today with AI Design Proposal! 🚀 We bridge real-world technology lessons and design strategy—no panic, just practical insights. Whether you’re worried about AI or curious how to harness it, you’ll discover how smart deployment can unlock new opportunities. Let’s dive in!
Designers Won't Be Replaced by AI? 3 Truths from McDonald's Case
No Editing Experience Needed! AI Creates Professional Videos in 3 Minutes
Quick Tips
5 AI design tools
Read time: 4 minutes
Today’s AI Design Breakthrough
Image credit: McDonald's
TL;DR
AI and automation don’t always cut jobs—they often shift roles and create new opportunities. McDonald’s touchscreen kiosk rollout in 1999 was expected to eliminate cashier jobs—but instead led to a net increase in employment and new “guest experience lead” roles.
Overview
When McDonald’s introduced kiosks for ordering, headlines warned of mass unemployment. But as it turned out, rather than firing staff, restaurants hired more cooks, servers, and staff to assist customers overwhelmed by the new tech. The company also boosted food sales thanks to upselling kiosks and faster service.
The key takeaway? Technology by itself isn’t the issue—it’s how organizations deploy it. McDonald’s used kiosks to improve guest experience and grow revenue—rather than simply eliminate roles.
Highlights
McDonald’s kiosks didn't reduce headcount—instead, they created new roles like “guest experience lead.”
Sales increased due to faster throughput and in-app upselling features.
Outcome depended less on automation itself and more on strategic implementation by management.
Why It Matters
Offers designers reassurance: AI doesn't necessarily replace human creativity—it changes how and where people contribute.
Illustrates the difference between using AI to cut costs versus using it to enhance service and creativity.
Underscores the value of strategic, emotionally grounded, and culturally sensitive design expertise—areas where AI still falls short.
Actionable Insight
Use AI tools to streamline repetitive tasks, free up time, and help clients experiment. But focus your efforts on the strategic, empathetic, and human-centered design work that AI can’t replicate.
Tool Spotlight
Tool of the Day: Revid.ai
Scenario: Perfect for content creators, marketers, and businesses who need to repurpose long videos into short, engaging clips for social media.
Value:
AI-powered video clipping: Automatically detects the most engaging moments.
Multi-platform optimization: Resizes and formats clips for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.
Captions & subtitles: Adds automatic captions to improve accessibility and engagement.
How it works:
Upload a long video (e.g., podcast, webinar, or interview).
Revid.ai identifies key highlights and generates short, shareable clips.
Customize, add subtitles, and export in the ideal format for social platforms.
Prompt of the Day
Today's Style: Mythic Solitude
Example:
/imagine prompt:A solitary figure in a black hooded robe, sitting in meditation on a vast deserted beach, facing a distant monolithic rock emerging from the sea, ethereal golden hour lighting, atmospheric storytelling, ultra-detailed, hyper-realistic. --ar 1:1 --v 6.1 --sref 4257518049
Quick Tips
Title: Elevate Your Designs with Vizcom Style Transfer
Tip: Use Vizcom's Style Transfer to transform sketches into polished designs instantly.
How to:
Upload or sketch your initial concept in Vizcom.
Choose a style or reference image (like watercolor, 3D render, or digital painting).
Apply the Style Transfer feature to see your sketch evolve into a refined, stylized design.
Adjust and refine the output as needed for a professional finish.
Recommended Tools Today
Arthub.ai: A platform to discover, upload, and share AI-generated art created by top community artists.
ARTSMART AI: ARTSMART AI uses AI to quickly generate unique and stunning images from art and photorealistic models.
Wrap-Up
AI Design Proposal is a premier AI Newsletter with over 50000 AI enthusiasts globally, including professionals from top-tier companies like OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Microsoft.
What We Can Offer:
Stay Ahead of Trend
Boost Creativity
Master AI Tools
Daily Inspiration
Thanks for exploring this fast-food lesson with AI Design Proposal today! 🌟 Ready to unlock AI’s potential without fear? Subscribe to our newsletter for more real-world case studies, hands-on AI tips, and design strategies that empower—not replace—you.
What did you think of today's issue?We take your feedback seriously. |