TACO BELL EXPANDS AI TECH IN DRIVE THRU LANES

When ordering nachos, burritos or other favorite items at this popular Mexican-inspired fast food chain you could be talking to a robot. And you probably won’t notice, as long as your order is correct. The Artificial Voice Intelligence has been rolled out the past couple of years at the restaurant in 13 states with more to come. Executives at Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum Brands are convinced the technology eases workloads, reduces wait times and improves order accuracy. Meantime when you dial up Wing Stop you might get Carlos answering your call. He sounds very life-like but if you ask him something out of the ordinary you’ll hear, “I understand”. At this point you can ask to be transferred to the actual location where you’re picking up food. Domino’s meantime has a call center where they’ll ask detailed questions before your order is confirmed. So you aren’t speaking with the actual pizza makers.

The integration of AI technology in drive thrus has been competitive among fast food chains but not all of it has been successful. Citing customer complaints and negative Tik Toks, McDonald’s has ended its pilot program with an automated order taker. Among other issues nine sweet teas were mistakenly added to one customer’s order. There’s no doubt bugs need to be worked out with the new technology, the question is whether customers idling in their vehicles will have the patience to wait for their orders to be corrected, especially when the drive thru is the one place hungry customers expect fast and accurate service.