Taco Bell to roll out AI ordering at its drive-thrus

Patricia Battle AMG-TheStreet

5 months ago

A Taco Bell location is seen in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Since the late 1940s, drive-thrus have grown to become a convenient staple in the restaurant industry across the nation.

For decades, consumers have enjoyed the option of ordering food at their favorite restaurant without leaving the comfort of their cars. While restaurant employees have historically handled drive-thru orders while maintaining face-to-face communication with customers, that may soon become a thing of the past.

Taco Bell, which is owned by Yum Brands (YUM) , is the latest fast-food chain to hop on a startling new trend in the restaurant industry that is slowly cutting human connection out of the picture. The company just announced that it will be expanding voice artificial intelligence technology at hundreds of its restaurants in the U.S. by the end of 2024.

This means that drive-thru customers at these locations will be talking to a computer instead of an actual human being when they order their food.

“Tapping into AI gives us the ability to ease team members’ workloads, freeing them to focus on front-of-house hospitality,” said Dane Mathews, Taco Bell’s chief digital and technology officer in a press release. “It also enables us to unlock new and meaningful ways to engage with our customers.”

Taco Bell claims that the voice AI technology has already been implemented in over 100 restaurants in the U.S. across 13 states. The company currently operates over 7,000 locations nationwide.

A Taco Bell employee delivers an order to a customer at the drive-up window of the restaurant on March 31, 2020 in Hollywood, Florida.

In the press release, Taco Bell states that the technology is “intuitive” and uses a “holistic approach that leverages feedback, data, and insights” to make the ordering process “seamless” for customers.

Consumers are skeptical of the technology

The move from Taco Bell comes after it was revealed last month that McDonald’s has opted to remove AI technology at its drive-thrus. The decision from McDonald’s came after the technology at its locations received mixed reviews from customers, with some even taking to TikTok to show how the technology botched their orders.

For example, in a viral TikTok video, a woman revealed that when she tried to remove a Diet Coke from her McDonald’s order at a drive-thru that used the technology, it ended up replacing the item with nine sweet teas, which is not what she asked for.

In a recent interview with CNN, Yum Brands Chief Innovation Officer Lawrence Kim claimed that the technology won’t have similar speech recognition issues.

“We are confident that we’ve approached this the right way,” Kim said in the interview.

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He also said that after two years of testing and improving the technology, it can accurately take orders and cut drive-thru wait times.

Taco Bell’s latest change follows other restaurant chains such as White Castle and KFC, which have both recently expanded AI at their drive-thrus. As restaurants continue to expand their use of the technology, many consumers are struggling to welcome it with open arms.

According to a recent survey from the National Restaurant Association, 16% of restaurant operators plan to invest in AI, including voice recognition, in 2024. The survey also found that only 33% of fast-food customers are open to ordering food by talking to an AI-generated persona on a video screen at a limited-service restaurant.