Will your next late-night order of diarrhea fuel be taken by a robot? It’s not totally clear. What we do know is this: new forms of automation are coming to Taco Bell and they’re coming soon.
On Wednesday, Yum! Brands, the company behind voice AI technology for multiple fast food franchises, published a press release stating that it would soon be rolling out its technology at “Taco Bell drive-thru locations in the U.S., targeting hundreds of stores by the end of 2024.” The technology is already in use at over 100 Taco Bell drive-thrus across 13 states, the company said.
“Yum! Brands is integrating digital and technology into all aspects of our business with exciting new capabilities, and AI is a core piece of that strategy,” said Lawrence Kim, Chief Innovation Officer at Yum! Brands, in the press release. “We’re expanding and accelerating our AI capabilities like Voice AI to deliver leading-edge technologies to our franchisees and to enhance the consumer and team member experience.”
The company states that it’s designed to “enhance back-of-house operations for team members and elevate the order experience for consumers.” In the past, fast food franchises have spoken about the desire to use AI to take customer orders, as well as to augment key parts of a worker’s activities.
While the jury’s still out on just how well this technology works, public-facing automation hardly ever leads to a better customer experience. Just look at how annoying those automated corporate voicemail systems are.
It’s also really easy to envision a scenario in which AI ordering systems don’t work very well, or malfunction all the time. Imagine rolling up to Taco Bell at 11:30 at night, dreaming of stuffing a Crunchwrap Supreme down your gullet, only to find that the robot taking your order is algorithmically borked and can’t take your order. Slowly a line of cars materialize behind you, and the other nocturnal eaters begin to get antsy. Your stomach grumbles, your mind races, and horns blare in your ears as you argue with a robot that will never register the desperation in your voice, nor the tears in your eyes…
Yeah, that doesn’t sound very good, does it?
Then again, maybe it won’t happen. McDonald’s notably tried to integrate AI-ordering into its systems via a partnership with IBM and, after years of flailing, finally gave up. Considering Taco Bell has a lot more items and a lot more ingredients to customize than McDonald’s it’s easy to imagine there are going to be rough waters ahead. There’s also always the looming worry that with AI comes automated surging pricing, a “feature” that got Wendy’s into hot water earlier this year.
The bigger worry might be for the people who work at fast food restaurants. Despite claims that companies won’t use AI to lay off workers, such products can’t help but seem destined to help companies reduce head count. Some predictions have suggested that millions of fast food workers could lose their jobs over the next few years, if companies successfully automate key parts of their workflow.
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