Say Hello To AI At McDonald’s And Goodbye To A Human Voice
I can’t say this news surprises me, with rising minimum wages, and people opting out of food service jobs there will now be AI at Mcdonald’s. That’s right, McDonald’s is replacing human drive-thru attendants with AI. McDonald’s is in the process of using AI technology to replace humans at drive-thrus. While it is not completely replacing the human presence from restaurants, the AI will be used in a voice-recognition program for those ordering in their cars at the drive-thru. While the program is being tested out, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski says, “Most of those are not ready for prime time, nor will they be ready for prime time over the next five years or so.”
Kempczinski also says that it has been a challenge to keep human employees from helping when the AI messes up. As someone who does sometimes have changes to an order ie no Mayo on a sandwich or lite ice in a drink, I do wonder who these types of requests will be handled. I would assume the AI would have to be set to address these concerns? Although in all honesty it’s been 10+ years since I’ve eaten McDonald’s and I don’t have plans to change that. So therefore I may not encounter this. Do you think AI will replace all human employees at fast food places? There will obviously need to be people there to cook and problem solve, but I do see the numbers of employees shrinking.
Do you think other fast food chains will begin testing AI? I could see other similar places with drive-thrus adopting this policy. I can’t imagine Chick-fil-a ever making the change away from humans. I know some restaurants such as Panera Bread already have ipads for customers to self-order on.
