McDonald’s has ended a trial of new AI technology that automated orders in a bid to speed up the fast food experience.
New AI technology introduced by McDonald’s at some of its restaurants is being scrapped after customers and managers complained it was too inaccurate and expensive to maintain. The automated system, which was first introduced back in 2021, was meant to be able to take orders via voice recognition but it has been plagued with problems such as delivering incorrect food at the checkout.
According to insiders, who spoke with CNBC, issues with the AI have included not being able to understand regional accents and dialects.
The system, named Automated Order Taker, was created in a partnership between McDonald’s and IBM with the aim of speeding up and simplifying restaurant operations.
In a message sent to restaurants across the US, the system will be closed next month.
“While there have been successes to date, we feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly,” the memo from Mason Smoot, senior vice president and chief restaurant officer for McDonald’s U.S. explained.
“After thoughtful review, McDonald’s has decided to end our current partnership with IBM on AOT. … IBM remains a trusted partner and we will continue to utilize many of their other products across our system.”
Since it was launched, there have been plenty of complaints from fast food fans with some going viral on social media platforms such as TikTok.
In one video, viewed more than 250,000 times, a woman called Madilynn asks for caramel ice cream as part of her order but instead, she receives packets of ketchup and butter.
Another McDonald’s user says they saw the system totally confuse their order with it then delivering 9 cups of tea they didn’t want.
The New York Times also recently reported that a customers had over $200 worth of McNuggets added to their bills and one user claimed their ice cream had been topped with bacon.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the drive-thru had already come under scrutiny amid concerns that workers could lose their jobs. It seems McDonald’s is rolling back on the use of this technology but only for now.
Speaking about the years ahead, a McDonald’s spokesperson told Restaurant Business: “A voice-ordering solution for drive-thru will be part of our restaurants’ future.
