NEW YORK (AP) — Ever had your McDonald's order go awry at an AI-powered drive-thru? The experiment behind the fast-food giant's current automated order taker is coming to an end soon.
McDonald's confirmed on Monday that it has decided to end a global partnership with IBM, which had been testing this artificial intelligence technology in select McDonald's drive-thrus since 2021.
That doesn't mean you'll never encounter a chatbot while grabbing fries on your way home from the car. While IBM's partnership for McDonald's current automated order taker test is coming to an end, the Chicago-based company suggested it isn't ruling out other potential AI drive-thru plans in the future — pointing to “opportunities to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly.”
“Our work with IBM has led us to believe that voice ordering solutions for drive-thru will be part of the future of our restaurants,” McDonald's said in a prepared statement this week, adding that it will “continue to evaluate to make an informed decision on a future voice ordering solution by the end of the year.”
A number of fast food chains have begun exploring the implementation of AI into their operations in recent years, with many pointing to the potential for maximising speed and cutting costs.
In the US, Wendy's partnered with Google Cloud to develop the “Wendy's FreshAI” chatbot. White Castle partnered with SoundHound AI to bring voice-driven AI technology to more than 100 restaurants by the end of 2024. And Panera, Arby's And Popeyes locations have brought OpenCity's “Tory” voice assistant to their order lanes.
Beyond the US, Popeyes UK also launched its first AI-powered drive-thru (named “Al”) last month, with the company saying its pilot program has reported 97% accuracy.
The success of AI-powered drive-thrus has been mixed. For example, McDonald's automated order taker with IBM received a lot of complaints in recent years – many of whom documented on social media the chatbot misinterpreting their orders.
a 2023 TIC TocThe drive-thru assistant appears to be repeatedly ordering McDonald's chicken nuggets on a car's bill, despite laughing customers telling him not to do so. Additional posts show a series of other glitches – such as adding bizarre extras like ice cream With ketchup and butteror pick up order from other cars nearby,
Anonymous source familiar with the technology told CNBC The technology is having difficulty interpreting different accents and dialects, and other challenges are impacting order accuracy.
McDonald's declined to comment about the accuracy of the automated order taker. In an initial statement, IBM said that “this technology has proven to have some of the most comprehensive capabilities in the industry, being fast and accurate under some of the most difficult conditions,” but did not immediately respond to a request for further comment about potential challenges.
The technology company, based in Armonk, New York, also said it is currently in “discussions and pilot phases” with several other quick-service restaurant customers interested in the automated order taker.
According to trade publications Restaurant Business And according to CNBC, which obtained a memo sent to franchisees last week, automated ordering technology at McDonald's locations will be discontinued “no earlier than July 26, 2024.”
Both IBM and McDonald's said that, although their AI drive-thru partnership is ending, the two will continue their relationship on other projects. McDonald's said it still plans to use many of IBM's products across its global systems.
In December, McDonald's Launched a multi-year partnership Partnership with Google Cloud. In addition to moving the restaurant's computations from servers to the cloud, the partnership is also set to implement generative AI “across several key business priorities” in restaurants around the world.