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Published June 18, 2024 • 3 minutes of reading
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NEW YORK (AP) – Is your McDonald’s order mixed up in an AI-powered drive-thru? The experiment behind the fast food giant’s automated order taker is now coming to an end.
McDonald’s confirmed Monday that it has decided to end its global partnership with IBM, which has been testing this artificial intelligence technology in selected McDonald’s drive-thrus since 2021.
That doesn’t mean you won’t run into chatbots while picking up fries in your car again. While IBM’s partnership to test McDonald’s automated order takers has now ended, the Chicago-based company suggests it isn’t ruling out other potential AI drive-thru plans down the road _ pointing to “opportunities to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly.”
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“Our work with IBM has given us confidence that a voice message solution for the drive-thru will be part of the future of our restaurants,” McDonald’s said in a prepared statement this week, adding that it will continue to evaluate to “make the right decision. voice in the future at the end of the year.
Many fast food chains have begun to explore the implementation of AI across their operations over the past few years, with many showing the potential to increase speed and reduce costs.
In the US, Wendy’s partnered with Google Cloud to develop the “Wendy’s FreshAI” chatbot. White Castle is teaming up with SoundHound AI with the goal of bringing voice-powered AI technology to more than 100 restaurants by the end of 2024. And some Panera, Arby’s and Popeyes locations have already brought OpenCity’s “Tori” voice assistant to the ordering line. .
Beyond America, Popeyes UK also launched its first AI-powered drive-thru (called “Al”) last month, after the company said a pilot program reported 97% accuracy.
Success for AI-powered drive-thrus has been mixed. McDonald’s automated order taker with IBM has received a lot of complaints in recent years, for example – with many taking to social media to document that the chatbot didn’t understand their order.
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One 2023 TikTok, appears to show a drive-thru assistant ordering after ordering McDonald’s chicken nuggets on the tab of one car, despite customers asking to stop while laughing. Additional posts show various other mishaps – such as adding strange extras, like ice cream with ketchup and butter, or taking orders from other nearby cars.
An unnamed source familiar with the technology told CNBC that the technology has difficulty interpreting different accents and dialects, among other challenges that affect the accuracy of orders.
McDonald’s declined to comment on the accuracy of the automated orders. In an initial statement, IBM said that “this technology is proven to have some of the most comprehensive capabilities in the industry, fast and accurate in some of the most demanding conditions,” but did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on specifics. of potential challenges.
Armonk, a New York-based tech company also said that it is currently “in discussions and pilots” with some other quick-service restaurant clients interested in automatic order takers.
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According to trade publications Restaurant Business and CNBC, which obtained a memo sent to franchisees last week, the automated ordering technology will be turned off at McDonald’s test locations “no later than July 26, 2024.”
Both IBM and McDonald’s maintain that, while the AI ​​drive-thru partnership is over, the two will continue their relationship on other projects. McDonald’s said it still plans to use many IBM products in its global system.
In December, McDonald’s launched a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud. In addition to moving restaurant computing from servers to the cloud, the partnership is also set to implement generative AI “in some key business priorities” at restaurants around the world.
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