The threat of artificial intelligence automating jobs is becoming more prescient by the day.
Fast-food chain Wendy’s will start using a Google-powered AI chatbot to take orders from drive-through customers in the US.
The McDonald’s rival — which operates several branches in the UK, including in Camden and Stratford in London — plans to incorporate the tech in June at a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. Wendy’s opened its first UK drive-through in January at Brampton Hut — on the A1 and A14 intersection.
Hyping up the tech, Wendy’s claims that interacting with the chatbot is no different than speaking to a human.
The Wendy’s trial is significant as it is set to be the first test of Google’s AI system at a real-world restaurant. To achieve those human-like results, Wendy’s has essentially plugged Google’s tech into its fast-food database, allowing it to feed on info relating to its burgers, fries, and shakes.
Generative AI chatbots are designed to simulate a natural language conversation in response to user prompts. At a drive-through, this may be similar to the interactions people have with smart Amazon or Google smart speakers, but catered to the dining experience.
However, as we’ve seen with chatbots in the past, there are also plenty of things that could go wrong.
Google has been working with Wendy’s to fine-tune the AI system. As part of the learning process, the system will have to digest unique terms for the various items Wendy’s sells — from milkshakes that are called “Frosties” to “Biggie Bags” that refer to combos of burgers, chicken nuggets, and drinks.
Making things even trickier, it will need to account for customers who don’t always use the correct term to refer to a specific menu item, like saying shake instead of milkshake, not to mention those who change their mind mid-order. After all, drive-throughs are known to be locations where customers tend to splurge, often spending more on meals.
The bot will also have to cut through the noise emanating from cars filled with hungry commuters and families, who may well be listening to music.
The launch sees Wendy’s following in the footsteps of other US companies that have embraced generative AI at drive-throughs. Bakery chain Panera Bread and fried-chicken restaurant Popeye’s are both using voice AI systems at select locations.
They claim the chatbots can help cut down long queue times, prevent mistakes with orders, and allow workers to focus on preparing food. While not as common a sight here in the UK, demand for drive-throughs did increase by 25 per cent post-Covid, according to a property research report from 2021.
So, don’t be surprised if you wind up speaking to a chatbot from your car window the next time you stop for a greasy burger.
Though Wendy’s insists that the bot is better at taking orders than customer-service staff, the company says that it won’t replace human workers. Instead, it will free them up to handle manual tasks related to drive-through orders.
Nevertheless, robots are popping up at cafés and restaurants around the world. Nando’s recently began trialing an autonomous fryer at a branch in West London. In addition, AI-powered baristas are whipping up coffees in South Korea. If chatbots wind up chatting to customers, it’s easy to see how the entire restaurant meal-ordering and prep process could be automated.
Google originally announced its PALM language model in April of 2022, followed by tools that allowed businesses to leverage AI earlier this year. The tech giant is poised to unveil the latest version of the tech at its Google I/O event later today.
Google began testing its ChatGPT rival, known as Bard, on select users in March amid fierce competition from Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot.
