US fast food giant Taco Bell is expanding the use of artificial intelligence to take orders at hundreds of its drive-thrus.
The voice AI system – which interprets customers’ orders based on voice recognition – has been in development for more than two years.
The Mexican-themed chain is already operating the system at more than 100 sites across 13 US states.
Taco Bell’s parent company Yum! Brands – which operates other chains including KFC and Pizza Hut – says it is designed to improve the accuracy of orders, cut waiting times, and reduce the effort for staff.
It plans to deploy the AI technology to hundreds of stores by the end of 2024, while five KFC restaurants in Australia are testing voice artificial intelligence.
Yum! Brands’ chief innovation officer Lawrence Kim said she is “confident in its effectiveness in optimising operations and enhancing customer satisfaction”.
But voice AI has not been a universal success – rival McDonald’s recently removed the technology from more than 100 restaurants.
It received customer complaints about orders, with some uploading videos online to share their mix-ups.
Examples included a dessert being topped with bacon, and a drive-thru assistant adding $211 (£166) worth of chicken nuggets to an order.
The McDonald’s trial was based on a partnership with IBM and the fast food company now plans to turn to other suppliers instead.
Even so, there is huge interest in artificial intelligence according to the US-based trade body, the National Restaurant Association.
It reports that “16% of operators plan to invest in artificial intelligence integration including voice recognition in 2024.”
Other US brands like Wendy’s, Dunkin’, and Checkers have extensively tested AI ordering.
Meanwhile in the UK, there is little adoption of voice AI, although Popeyes is testing the technology at a small number of drive-thrus.
