Your next Wendy's drive-thru order could be taken by a Google AI chatbot
AI is slowly but surely becoming inescapable. Between ChatGPT infusing itself into travel websites and Google quietly implementing Bard into a wide array of its services, it was only a matter of time before AI became powerful enough to replace workers. Wendy's is testing out a Google-developed AI chatbot that would take orders at the drive-thru.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the fast-food chain will first implement the chatbot at a company-owned location in Columbus, Ohio. The company says its goal is to make the ordering process much more efficient in order to cut down on wait times and entice more people to order from their cars. Given that 80% of orders made at Wendy's come from the drive-thru, it's understandable why the company is leaning so heavily on making that experience as seamless as possible.
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To make the bot as lifelike as possible, Wendy's and Google have been working on a generative AI model similar to Google's which will understand specific terms related to the Wendy's experience. The chatbot will eventually be able to understand that "JBC" is short for Junior Bacon Cheeseburger and "biggie bags" means a combination of items including burgers, chicken nuggets, and drinks. It'll be a tall order to get all these terms down, but the chain is confident it can bring a reliable AI ordering machine into the fast-food industry.
Getting the AI to learn all the menu items is only one aspect of this chapter. It will also have to cut the noise from each car, such as music or kids yelling, in order to fully hear what each customer is ordering. On top of that, customers make mistakes in their orders and the AI will have to understand when a client will want to edit their order halfway into the process.
Kevin Vasconi, Wendy's chief information officer, believes that, in its current state, its AI chatbot functions as well as its best customer service agent and that it's arguably better than the average employee.
While Google is lending a helping hand to other companies looking to bolster their offerings with AI, it'll have the opportunity to reveal more about advancements in that realm at this year's Google I/O which takes place tomorrow.
Source: Android Police
