Taco Bell Backpedals On AI Drive-Thru After Customers Troll System & Viral Glitches
The Tex-Mex food chain began to roll out AI-powered voice ordering at over 500 drive-through locations last year. Rather than any efficiency gains or a better experience for its customers, the company has encountered glitches and trolls looking to make the AI look bad on social media. For example, in one instance someone attempted to order 18,000 cups of water when using the AI drive-through.
The company’s chief digital and technology officer Dane Matthews says “we’re learning a lot, I’m going to be honest with you. I think, like everybody, sometimes it lets me down, but sometimes it really surprises me.” This dichotomy has forced Taco Bell to reevaluate its plans to have AI take over the drive-through order-taking duties, instead advising staff at their restaurants when AI can be left on its own and when humans need to be available to intervene.
Taco Bell isn’t the only restaurant investigating the ways AI can be deployed within the context of their businesses. McDonald’s was working with IBM to develop an AI solution for its drive-through locations, but has now partnered with Google Cloud to see this project to fruition. Another big player in the space, Wendy’s, is also working with Google to develop FreshAI. Southwest hot-dog chain Wienerschnitzel has deployed AI ordering at some locations, too.
These growing pains indicate that humans aren’t going to be disappearing from the drive-through experience anytime soon. Matthews shared that “I think at the end of the day, it’s really, really early. And we feel that. And I think other brands feel that, too.”
