Key takeaways:
- McDonald’s reportedly is pulling the plug on its drive-thru AI assistant after a series of ordering mistakes that include adding bacon to ice cream.
- The system uses IBM’s voice-recognition technology.
McDonald’s reportedly is pulling the plug on its 3-year pilot of an order-taking AI assistant at its drive thrus after the bot made a series of mistakes that have gone viral on social media.
According to Restaurant Business, the fastfood giant is terminating its experiment that uses IBM voice recognition technology to process orders. The move comes as some diners posted videos of the AI bot getting their orders wrong or not understanding what they were saying.
Mistakes reportedly include adding bacon to ice cream or ringing up hundreds of dollars worth of chicken nuggets, according to the BBC.
“After thoughtful review, McDonald’s has decided to end our current global partnership with IBM on AOT [Automated Order Taking] beyond this year,” the restaurant chain said in a statement.
McDonald’s will remove the AI bot by July 26 at all restaurants testing the system.
“While there have been successes to date, we feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly,” Mason Smoot, chief restaurant officer for McDonald’s USA, said in the system message.
The fastfood giant said it hasn’t given up on the technology, but remains confident that voice ordering at drive-thrus will be part of its future.
