A Robot's Nightmare Is a Burrito Full of Guac

Welcome to the future: A robot can now prepare your favorite Chipotle order. Just as long as you don't want a burrito, taco, or quesadilla. The robot cannot handle those. Your order must be a burrito bowl or a salad, and it must be placed online. Then and only then--and once the robot makes it out of testing at the Chipotle Cultivate Center, in Irvine, California--your queso-covered barbacoa bowl might soon be assembled by the chain's new "automated digital makeline." Announced on Tuesday, the result of a collaboration between Chipotle and the automation company Hyphen looks like a standard stainless-steel Chipotle counter, burrito components arrayed on top.