McDonald's stops testing AI ordering system after bacon in ice cream mistakes
Kyiv • UNN
McDonald's suspends its AI ordering system after customers report errors, such as adding bacon to an ice cream order.
McDonald's stops testing an artificial intelligence system in its drive-thru after customers reported errors in their orders, including the addition of bacon to ice cream, UNN reports citing Sky News.
Details
The fast-food chain's AI ordering system developed by IBM uses voice recognition to process orders and has been deployed in more than 100 McDonald's locations in the US since 2021.
However, in recent months, the reliability of the technology has been called into question as members of the public have begun sharing videos on social media about confusing orders.
In addition to "garnishing" the dessert with bacon, the AI assistant added chicken nuggets worth $211 to another customer's order, the publication says.
In another video on TikTok, posted with the caption "Fighting the McDonald's robot," a woman is seen trying her best to order vanilla ice cream and a bottle of water, but instead receives several ice creams, ketchup packets, and two servings of butter.
McDonald's instructed franchisees to abandon this technology by the end of July, as it decided not to renew the contract, as first reported by the industry publication Restaurant Business.
In a statement, the fast food giant said: "While we have made progress to date, we believe there is room to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly.
McDonald's also said that it is confident that this technology will continue to be part of the company's future.
