Your next Taco Bell drive-thru order might soon be handled by artificial intelligence (AI). Taco Bell's parent company, Yum! Brands, has been giving its "Voice AI" technology a test run at over 100 drive-thru locations in the U.S. And according to a news release, Yum! is gearing up to roll this tech out to "hundreds" more Taco Bells by the end of the year.
Currently, Voice AI is active in more than 100 Taco Bell drive-thrus across 13 states, aimed at improving back-of-house operations for team members and enhancing the order experience for consumers. The company says that the benefits include easing the task load for employees, improving order accuracy, providing a consistent and friendly customer experience, reducing wait times, and driving profitable growth for Taco Bell, Yum! Brands, and their franchisees.
With more than 7,400 Taco Bell stores in the U.S., this will still represent a limited rollout. Bloomberg reports that these initial tests have been ongoing for about two years.
This isn't the first time the fast food industry has experimented with AI, and results have been mixed. While Wendy’s has had success with its trials, McDonald’s recently decided to scale back its plans.
In 2023, Wendy’s announced an expansion of its partnership with Google Cloud to develop a generative AI platform called Wendy’s FreshAI. According to the fast-food chain, Wendy’s FreshAI is now active in four company restaurants in the Columbus, Ohio market, with more locations expected to follow this year.
Meanwhile, CNN reported in June that McDonald’s was discontinuing its AI ordering technology, which had been tested at over 100 restaurant drive-thrus in the U.S. McDonald’s had collaborated with IBM to develop and test AI-driven, voice-automated ordering at some of its restaurants.
This decision came after McDonald’s customers shared their experiences with the AI technology on social media, with some failures going viral. One TikTok from 2022 showed a man struggling to order a Mountain Dew with his Big Mac meal, only to repeatedly have a medium Coke added to his order.
“No, no, that’s not correct. Cancel,” he said, as he attempted to place his order again.
In another TikTok, the same user tried to buy two ice cream cones, but the system added bacon to the order. When he attempted to remove the bacon, the system charged him for three ice cream cones, according to the video.
Another woman posted a TikTok of her attempt to order water and a cup of vanilla ice cream. While the system got her order correct, it also added four ketchup packets and two butter packets she hadn't requested.
In addition to the expansion of Voice AI across Taco Bell U.S. drive-thrus, five KFC restaurants in Australia are also testing Voice AI technology in their drive-thrus.
