UNITED STATES – McDonald’s has temporarily suspended its pilot initiative that used artificial intelligence (AI) in some of its restaurants in the United States to automatically take its customers’ orders from the car (“drive-thru”, in English), they reported this Monday United States media.
The fast food giant, which had been working on this test with IBM technology since 2021, has canceled this implementation of AI after reaping “contradictory results,” a company spokesperson told CNBC.
The company is “not ready” for now to roll out voice ordering in all of its restaurants, according to this representative.
“The goal of the trial was to determine whether an automated voice ordering solution could simplify operations for staff and create a faster, improved experience for our customers,” the spokesperson added, adding that there is still “an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions.
McDonald’s, which has 27,000 self-service restaurants around the world, had implemented this AI technology in 100 establishments in the United States.
In addition, some customers had already reported through their social networks that McDonald’s chatbot sometimes made mistakes even on simple orders.
Other fast food chains, such as Chipotle, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, are also experimenting with artificial intelligence tools in their kitchens and cash registers to save labor costs.
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