The minimum wage increase is a really fascinating argument. If anything, it could provide short term relief to some, but as your article points out, it would ultimately not be beneficial to the public as costs would rise or hours would shrink to meet it.

I've already seen McDonald's automated kiosks. They're fun to use, but are a sign of robotics shifting jobs around (or removing jobs, in this case, ultimately).

The call for minimum wage increases is a symptom of a bigger problem. Inflation needs to be kept under control, and the fact that US interest rates have been dismal for more than a decade, combined with debt increases for a large chunk of the population, also has something to do with it.