The fast-food giant has discontinued its AI voice ordering service at around 100 of its restaurants after a video showing a customer making an incorrect order went viral.
McDonald's is halting a trial of an artificial intelligence (AI) ordering system in some of its drive-thru restaurants after a video of an order being mixed up went viral online.
The fast-food giant's decision to phase out AI-powered voice ordering systems at around 100 of its restaurants comes as restaurant chains rush to adopt the technology to cut rising labor costs.
McDonald's partnered with IBM to begin testing the service in select drive-thru restaurants in the U.S. in 2021.
Industry publication Restaurant Business first reported the news on Friday.
“While we have seen success to date, we feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly,” Mason Smoot, McDonald's U.S. chief restaurant officer, said in an email cited by Restaurant Business.
“After careful consideration, McDonald's has decided to end its current partnership with IBM regarding AOT and will stop testing the technology in all restaurants by July 26, 2024.”
McDonald's suggested the aborted trial wasn't the end of its experimentation with AI, saying its “working with IBM gives us confidence that drive-thru voice ordering solutions will be part of the future of our restaurants.”
“We see significant opportunities in advancements in restaurant technology and continue to evaluate long-term, scalable solutions that will help us make an informed decision about our future voice ordering solution by the end of the year,” the Chicago-based company said in a statement to multiple US media outlets.
McDonald's has not disclosed a reason for ending the partnership, but the move comes after TikTok users shared videos showing the system taking orders from the wrong car, doubling orders and producing strange food combinations, such as ice cream with ketchup and butter.
Other major US fast-food chains, including Chipotle, Wendy's, Carl's Jr., Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, are also adopting AI systems to speed up workflows and cut costs.
In April, Joe Park, head of technology at Yum Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, told The Wall Street Journal that the company believes “an AI-first mindset works every step of the way.”
