Healthy fast-food restaurant Oliver's has launched Australia's first conversational AI drive-thru on one of Australia's busiest highways.
Its name is Ollie and it can be found at Pheasants Nest Southbound on the Hume Highway.
Unlike standard AI, Ollie provides a fully contextual, truly conversational, unscripted two-way interaction.
What sets Ollie apart is its integration with advanced food software, Prepit, which allows it to recommend products, respond to dietary preferences and answer questions about ingredients and allergens in real-time.
Plus, unlike other global AIs, Ollie speaks Australian, responding to our "aaaaahs", "ummmms" and "how you goings". And the voice order experience also acts as a touch-free virtual assistant, accessible to those with both visual and physical impairments.
Oliver's CEO Natalie Sharpe, from Port Stephens, says Ollie sets a new benchmark in fast-food automation by offering a smoother, more intuitive and highly personalised customer experience than before.
"We're thrilled to launch this Australian-first innovation, enhancing the drive-thru experience so our team can focus on creating nourishing healthy wholefoods and a memorable experience at Oliver's," she said.
"Come and say hello, or if you'd prefer to speak with a member of staff when ordering our signature egg wrap your bacon and egg roll, simply ask."
Oliver's technology was featured by Google at this year's Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the world's leading audiovisual and systems integration exhibition held in Barcelona.
"It's been a momentous journey to integrate Australia's first drive-thru conversational AI assistant for Oliver's," Sodaclick CEO Ibrahim Jan said.
"Customers placing their orders might be surprised that Ollie is actually an AI ... it has been trained extensively to be non-linear in its interactions and is completely unscripted, giving customers a friendly, natural and human-like conversation."
Ms Sharpe said Ollie had been built with an Australian accent and was a health-conscious AI integration with nutritional support and information built into the system.
"If you ask questions about fats, carbohydrates, calories and proteins it will bring up that information on each of the food items, and not only that, it looks at allergens. If someone asks 'What do you have that is gluten-free?', it will bring up all of the items that are made without gluten," she explained.
"It's truly intelligent and conversational and can respond flexibly, so if a customer asks something outside of the pre-defined script, Ollie will handle it without breaking down."
Ms Sharpe said the aim was not to replace humans, but to "re-purpose staff" and relieve pressure on them.
"We find it very challenging, particularly in rural spaces, to find staff," she said.
"Like most industries, QSRs (quick-service restaurants) have been impacted by the global labour shortage.
"Ollie will be able to answer detailed nutritional questions and, to me, this is about giving transparency about our menu options and enhancing the customer experience."
