McDonald’s Pulls the Plug on AI Drive-Thru Ordering

Goodbye AI, Hello Humans: McDonald’s Reverts to Traditional Drive-Thru

Customer getting her order at a McDonald's drive-thru. The fast-food giant reverts back to traditional drive-thru ordering after a test run of AI drive-thru.

In a move that might surprise some, McDonald’s is ditching its foray into artificial intelligence (AI) for drive-thru orders. After a trial period testing voice-operated AI drive-thru systems, the fast-food giant is reverting to its traditional human-staffed drive-thrus.  But is this the end of AI’s role in the McDonald’s experience? Let’s dive in and explore the reasons behind this decision and what it means for the future of ordering your favorite Big Mac.

McDonald’s x IBM

McDonald’s experiment with AI drive-thrus stemmed from a collaboration with tech giant IBM. In 2021, the two companies joined forces to develop and test what they called Automated Order Taking (AOT) technology. IBM also acquired McDonald’s McD Tech Labs, which focused on AI-powered innovations,  with the goal of streamlining the drive-thru experience.

While the partnership continues for other aspects of McDonald’s operations, McDonald’s has announced that it will end its partnership with IBM for AI-powered drive-thru ordering, citing the need to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly. The AOT technology, which was tested in over 100 restaurants, will be deactivated by July 26, 2024. Despite the termination of the partnership, McDonald’s remains optimistic about the potential of voice-ordering solutions in the future and plans to evaluate long-term, scalable solutions by the end of the year.

“While there have been successes to date, we feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly,” said Mason Smoot, chief restaurant officer for McDonald’s USA, in an email to Restaurant Business.

A McDonald's drive-thru
A McDonald’s drive-thru

What went wrong?

The AI-powered drive-thru ordering at McDonald’s was meant to speed up the overall turnaround time for customers. While it’s not clear if that objective was attained, the experiment faced several issues, including:

Incorrect Orders: Customers reported numerous instances of incorrect orders, often due to misunderstandings or misinterpretations by the AI system. Social media went abuzz with tales of hilarious and frustrating mishaps. For example, a customer ordered water and vanilla ice cream but received an order with four ketchup packets and two butter packets added. There was also a customer who ordered a hash brown, sweet tea, and Coke but received nine sweet teas instead of their intended order.

Technical Issues: The AI technology sometimes failed to accurately process orders, leading to errors and frustration for customers.

Cross-Talk Interference: The AI system was vulnerable to cross-talk interference from neighboring drive-thru stations, which could cause it to misinterpret orders.

Limited Accuracy: Despite initial claims of 85% order accuracy, human intervention was still required for approximately one in five orders, indicating that the technology was not yet reliable enough for widespread adoption.

Will AI drive-thrus ever come back to McDonald’s?

Despite the abovementioned issues, the email from Smooth pointed out that McDonald’s planned to make “an informed decision on a future voice-ordering solution by the end of the year” and said the company was optimistic about the practice.

“The goal of the test was to determine if an automated voice ordering solution could simplify operations for crew and create a faster, improved experience for our fans,” McDonald’s said in a statement to Fortune. “Through our partnership with IBM, we have captured many learnings and feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly. … As we move forward, our work with IBM has given us the confidence that a voice ordering solution for drive-thru will be part of our restaurants’ future. We see tremendous opportunity in advancing our restaurant technology and will continue to evaluate long-term, scalable solutions that will help us make an informed decision on a future voice ordering solution by the end of the year.”

Aside from its partnership with McDo, IBM is also collaborating with other fast-food chains like Wendy’s, Hardee’s, and Dunkin’ on integrating AI to their respective drive-thru ordering system.

McDonald's Drive-Thru campaign
McDonald’s Drive-Thru campaign

McDonald’s History with AI

McDonald’s has a history of exploring and implementing (AI) technology in various aspects of its operations. Key milestones include: Prior to its partnership with IBM, McDonald’s acquired Apprente, a startup specializing in AI-based voice solutions for customer service settings, in 2019. This marked the beginning of McDonald’s AI-focused efforts. In 2021, McDonald’s integrated Apprente into its own AI-focused division, McD Tech Labs, which, as mentioned above, was later sold to IBM.

Despite the trial of AOT technology ending, McDonald’s remains optimistic about the potential of AI in drive-thru ordering and plans to explore voice-ordering solutions further. The company has not ruled out the possibility of re-introducing AI technology in the future.

Sources: Fortune, CNBC, Today
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