Thursday, May 11, 2023

The burger joint innovates, automates. The essence of AI? "In what should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody, the order-taking chatbot has also been programmed to upsell. It'll routinely ask if you'd like a larger size or be interested in a daily special."

 Hateful little upselling demon.

Techspot reports, "It's happening: AI chatbot to replace human order-takers at Wendy's drive-thru -- Wendy's is working with Google on the integration --- By

In a nutshell: Your next interaction at the drive-thru could be with an AI chatbot instead of a human order-taker, and you might not even know it. Fast-food giant Wendy's has partnered with Google to trial an artificial intelligence chatbot at one of its restaurants in its home state of Ohio. The chatbot will be trained to understand how customers typically order items from the menu and interact in a natural way.

According to Wendy's Chief Executive Todd Penegor, the test bot will be "very conversational" and some customers might not even realize they aren't talking to a human employee.

Software engineers with Wendy's have been working with the search giant to tweak its large language model for keywords and phrases specific to menu ordering. The company's milkshakes are known as Frosties, for example, but some customers might simply refer to them as a milkshake. Other Wendy's slang including "biggie bag" is also being integrated into the chatbot's vocabulary.

Get in line, reach the order kiosk, and then do it. Order a Big Mac. See what happens.