drivethru

This article originally appeared at The Takeout. Many fast food restaurants have been experimenting with artificial intelligence in recent months, trying to figure out how best to use the evolving technology to drive sales and increase efficiency. Many restaurant chains have tested AI-assisted drive-thru lanes, but the recent struggles of one AI company illustrate the potential shortcomings of this model. Get Gorditas From a Tube at Taco Bell 'Defy'Presto Automation supplies AI solutions, specifically voice recognition…

Starbucks fans who want to be a bit more environmentally friendly in 2024 can rejoice. The coffee giant has decided it will be the first national coffee chain to accommodate reusable cups for customers’ drive-thru and mobile orders. “Starting January 3, 2024, customers will be able to use their own clean, personal cup for every visit at all company-operated stores and participating licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada — including drive-thru, the Starbucks app, and in café,” the company said in a…

Fast-food restaurants wrestling with finding workers are turning to a helper named Holly, who is being deployed by a Denver technology company. Her specialty is taking drive-thru orders and she sounds just human enough to do it smoothly while signaling that customers are talking to a robot. Valyant AI’s conversational artificial intelligence platform, “Holly,” is taking orders at some Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Colorado and four other states. Four of the fast-food restaurants in Colorado are using the…

AI chatbots have come for journalism, and now they are coming for our burgers. Wendy’s is reportedly gearing up to unveil a chatbot-powered drive-thru experience next month, with help from a partnership with Google.Google’s Antitrust Case Is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to AIThe Wall Street Journal reported that the upcoming rollout will be relegated to a single Wendy’s restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. According to the outlet, software engineers at the fast food chain have been working with Google to build an AI on top…

photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty ImagesIt's not been a wonderful few weeks for AI.Both Google and Microsoft presented their new AI-powered chatterboxes and both seemed to make fundamental mistakes.Yes, in the launch presentations.Then Microsoft's Bing with ChatGPT took on less of a charming personality and more of a sociopathic affect.Also: ChatGPT: What The New York Times and others are getting terribly wrong about itPerhaps, then, AI needs a little more work. Real humans knew this already. When they talk to…

During its trial run of the AI drive-thrus, McDonald’s reportedly missed its goal of 95% order accuracy by over 10%.Image: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)McDonald’s AI-powered drive-thru ordering system is apparently missing the mark, at least according to social media. Videos posted to TikTok are illustrating just how woefully ill-prepared automation is at taking fast food orders, and how woefully ill-prepared humans are to deal with it. The AI revolution has been arguably underwhelming as of late, with ChatGPT doing just…

Batman and Robin. Biscuits and gravy. Hammer and nails. Ben Affleck and Dunkin' Donuts. What does this seemingly arbitrary list of paired things have in common? These are items that are synonyms with one another, and it would be hard to imagine them not being paired together. Many of us have seen the infamous Affleck memes showcasing a tired Ben carrying an order from Dunkin' and countless paparazzi images of the man just going about his day, trying to enjoy his favorite beverage. Well, after the Daredevil actor was…

Rendering by ChargeNet/Diversified Restaurant GroupIf there are words in a press release that really, truly motivate, among them are words like "revolutionary," "killer," and "first."more Technically Incorrect Each time I see those appear in my email inbox -- or anywhere where finer press releases hang out -- I leap to learn more.So it was the other day that I saw not only the word "first," but also a true rarity: The word "electrified."Here's what truly threw me. The next two words after "first" and "electrified"…

A worker hands a customer their order in the drive-through of a Wendy's fast food restaurant in Pinole, California, on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesWendy's is often credited with pioneering drive-thru ordering, but the burger chain's drive-thru accuracy and customer satisfaction scores lagged behind its rivals this year, according to a new study.The study released Tuesday comes after drive-thru lanes became even more of a critical sales driver for the fast-food sector during the…

A Panera Bread location in Spring Hill, Florida.Jeff Greenberg | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesStarting Monday, drive-thru customers at two Panera Bread locations in upstate New York will have their orders taken by a computer in a test of artificial intelligence technology's accuracy and ability to decrease service times.The sandwich chain is the latest restaurant company to invest in potential improvements to the drive-thru experience. A surge in drive-thru ordering during the Covid pandemic led to long lines of…