McDonald’s will stop testing AI for taking drive-thru orders for now

If your local McDonald’s has been confidently getting your order wrong with an AI chatbot at the drive-thru, I have good news for you: The company is ending the program for now. The company told franchisees it is ending the AI ​​drive-thru ordering partnership with IBM “no earlier than July 26, 2024.” According to trade publications Restaurant Business,

The company will reportedly remove the technology from more than 100 restaurants where it is testing the system. Partnership with IBM in 2021However, it is not clear why the company is ending the deal with IBM. Restaurant Business It was testing whether a voice ordering chatbot could speed up service and the testing convinced it that “voice-ordering solutions for drive-thrus will be part of the future of our restaurants.”

Fast food companies in general are hankering for AI. White Castle is testing AI provided by speech recognition company SoundHound. And Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and other companies use AI drive-thru chatbots, which were disclosed in SEC filings. Supported by remote human workers Most of the time in the Philippines.