Would you like flies with that? AI drive-thru VAs get pulled from menus

The Yuan requests your support! Our content will now be available free of charge for all registered subscribers, consistent with our mission to make AI a human commons accessible to all. We are therefore requesting donations from our readers so we may continue bringing you insightful reportage of this awesome technology that is sweeping the world. Donate now

By Ben Armour | Jul 11, 2024

Image courtesy of and under license from Shutterstock.com

As AI and other new-fangled tech are introduced into the mainstream, there are bound to be some hiccups along the way. The fast food industry is a good example of how not to go about this transition, as it has already led to embarrassing headlines, dissatisfied customers, and companies backtracking as they are forced to rethink their AI strategies. The Yuan's Ben Armour breaks down the situation.

LONDON - Many people have likely experienced the frustrations of interacting with a customer service voice assistant (VA) powered by artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years. Touted just last year as the greatest thing to happen to fast food since sliced American cheese, fast-food firms that have piloted their use in their drive-thru lanes are now jettisoning these chatbots in droves.

McDonald’s confirmed last month the end of its global partnership with IBM. The fast-food behemoth had been testing the automated order taking (AOT) AI-driven technology at its drive-thru locations in the United States for three years, trade publication Restaurant Business reported last month.
Debuted in 2021 and cooperatively developed with IBM, AOT was planned to expedite orders for customers, who placed them to a robotic female voice.

This was after many customers had shared on TikTok their exchanges with AOT, which seemed to struggle to comprehend orders and behaved bizarrely at times. One user’s footage showed the system adding hundreds of dollars’ worth of chicken McNuggets to her order, as The Drum reported.

The content herein is subject to copyright by The Yuan. All rights reserved. The content of the services is owned or licensed to The Yuan. Such content from The Yuan may be shared and reprinted but must clearly identify The Yuan as its original source. Content from a third-party copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in such third party’s content appearing in The Yuan must likewise be clearly labeled as such.

GET STARTED

- or -