AIs and fries: Wendy’s to trial chatbot drive-thru operator
An artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot dubbed "Wendy’s FreshAI," will take orders from Wendy's drive-thru customers after the fast-food chain partnered with Google Cloud to create the bot.
Over three-quarters of Wendy’s customers prefer to place their orders via drive-thru, according to a May 9 announcement from Google Cloud and the Tech Giant claimed using a chatbot to service these customers will “revolutionize the quick service restaurant industry.”
AI chatbots such as OpenAI's ChatGPT use natural language processing to understand what people are saying, and then use machine learning algorithms to generate a response.
"Generative AI helps companies transform applications and services. @Wendys is at the forefront of applying #generativeAI into their business in ways that help transform the customer, employee, and overall restaurant experience"—@MaribelLopez https://t.co/bS2IQXZdWU
In a statement to Wall Street Journal, Wendy’s CEO and president Todd Penegor said the chatbot “will be very conservational,” adding “you won’t know you’re talking to anybody but an employee.”
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian noted, however, there many challenges associated with using chatbots to service drive-thru customers though, and said:
The diversity of customers' orders is one challenge that Wendy’s and Google Cloud will have to overcome, as many customers might call menu items by a different name or have special requests. Additionally, the chatbot will also have to filter out any background noise.
To help refine the AI chatbot before it is rolled out to multiple stores, Wendy’s FreshAI will undergo a pilot launch at a Columbus, Ohio, restaurant in June. Customers will still have the option to speak to a human too.
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