I still remember back in 1999 when many of us were scared of the Y2K, the end of the world and the “rise of robots” reminiscent of The Terminator set out on annihilating mankind. But now that time has come to pass, we know mankind is not going to disappear from the face of the earth. However, there is a genuine fear that artificial intelligence (AI) will eventually take over our jobs.
Make no mistake about it, that day is approaching and fast. The McKinsey Global Institute has projected that close to 800 million jobs may be lost globally by 2030 because of AI.
Fortunately for many McDonald’s employees, that day has not come yet. That’s because Mickey Ds has decided to scrap its AI drive-thrus due to the numerous snafus that have occurred in the past 2 years since it was set up.
McDonald’s began experimenting with AI-powered drive-thrus back in 2021 in collaboration with IBM. Right now there are about 100 MCD locations with an AI drive thru. The technology has faced numerous glitches and has become a headache for both the customers and employees.
In a statement sent by McDonald’s to Restaurant Business, it said that starting July 26, its drive-thrus would once again be AI-free. This comes as welcome news for customers who experienced receiving the wrong orders at the McDo drive-thru, such as nine sweet teas added to one order or an ice cream cone topped with bacon.
But the company hinted at a possible future reintroduction of AI at drive-thru windows. According to Mason Smoot, McDonald’s USA’s chief restaurant officer, there have been successes with the technology, but there’s still room to explore voice ordering solutions further.
Smoot announced that McDonald’s would end its partnership with IBM regarding automated order taking (AOT) by July 26, 2024. However, the company remains open to evaluating future voice ordering solutions, with a decision expected by the end of the year.
Customer experiences with AI at McDonald’s have been mixed, as seen in various TikTok videos. One user named “Ren” shared how cross-talk from a neighboring station led to nine sweet teas being added to her order instead of the hash brown, sweet tea, and Coke she requested.
Another user, Madilynn Cameron, posted a video of her struggles with the AI, which added cream packets instead of vanilla ice cream without caramel.
One TikTok user humorously questioned, “Where’d the butter come from?”.
Cailyn Sykora’s AI-powered drive-thru order ended up with over 20 McNuggets Meals, totaling around $222.
McDonald’s journey with AI began in 2019 when it acquired Apprente, a startup specializing in AI-based voice solutions for customer service. The goal was to improve order-taking speed and efficiency at drive-thrus.
McDonald’s integrated Apprente into its own AI division, McD Tech Labs, which was later sold to IBM in 2021 to scale up AI-powered automated order taking.
Despite ending the AI pilot program, McDonald’s maintains IBM as a trusted partner, and uses many of their products globally. The company sees great potential in advancing restaurant technology and continues to evaluate scalable solutions for voice ordering.
An IBM spokesperson mentioned that the company is negotiating with other fast-food chains to implement its AI technology, which has proven to be fast and accurate even under demanding conditions. While McDonald’s reassesses its plans, IBM looks forward to collaborating on various other projects.
Other fast-food chains are also adopting AI technology to enhance customer service. Chains like Checkers and Rally’s, Hardee’s, Dunkin’, Carl’s Jr., Krystal, Wendy’s, Taco Johns have either tested or fully implemented AI in their drive-thrus. Domino’s uses AI for order-taking and optimizing delivery routes, while Starbucks personalizes customer recommendations through its app using AI. In China, KFC uses AI in facial recognition technology to predict customer orders.
At this point, I think only fast food chains are using AI in the restaurant industry. Sit down restaurants have yet to implement this technology in their processes although that AI commercial for Olive Garden is hilarious!