Artificial intelligence comes in many forms and has different purposes. Some can make art, while others create entire essays. The fast-food industry is taking hold of AI and implementing it into its companies.
How is AI used in fast-food restaurants?
Most likely you’ve encountered AI in a fast-food restaurant. A recent Forbes article highlights some of the common ways AI is being utilized in the fast-food industry.
- Automated order systems, such as AI-powered kiosks and voice orders, can be found in places like McDonald’s.
- AI drive-thrus, where AI would give recommendations to customers, are being tested by KFC and Taco Bell.
- AI-powered customer management is when AI creates marketing strategies and personalized offers based on customer data. It’s used by Domino’s Pizza to suggest orders and increase customer satisfaction.
According to Axios, other ways AI is making an impact in the food industry include robot servers and kitchen robots that can prep certain foods. Forbes notes that there are a few ways AI will continue to develop in the food industry.
- More employees can be robots.
- AI can help create healthier menu options.
- Better AI voice technology and customer interactions.
How successful has AI been in fast-food so far?
A company called Presto Automations provides “AI-powered drive-thru chatbots,” per Business Insider, that has been used by fast-food restaurants Del Taco, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. Presto Automations once claimed that 95% of orders received via its chatbots did not need human assistance, but an SEC report in late 2023 revealed that up to 70% or more of orders received through the AI chatbots required human intervention, according to Business Insider.
More and more businesses across the U.S. are turning to AI to take care of orders and rely less on people, according to Business Insider. But only a few are allowing robots to enter the kitchen.
According to CBS News, a restaurant in California, known as CaliExpress, uses robots to cook french fries and flip burger meat. Thanks to these robots, the restaurant is able to cook 250 pounds of french fries per hour and cook 100 meat patties at a time, reducing the need to find human labor, per CBS News.
“We can’t get enough people to come out and work on the fryer and grills,” CaliExpress’s owner, Vic Aulakh, told CBS News. “They’re dangerous jobs and this automation helps solve a lot of those issues we’re having.”