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From developing recipes to guiding robots cooking French fries, the role of artificial intelligence in the restaurant industry continues to grow. But it could really change things up in the world of food in the area of customer relations -- for instance as consumers place their drive-thru orders or post reviews of their meal online.
From developing recipes to guiding robots cooking French fries, the role of artificial intelligence in the restaurant industry continues to grow. But it could really change things up in the world of food in the area of customer relations -- for instance as consumers place their drive-thru orders or post reviews of their meal online.
To make ordering at the drive-thru a more fluid, efficient experience, companies are testing out scenarios that until recently may have looked like something out of works of science fiction. Since the end of last year, McDonald's has been testing a fully automated restaurant in Texas. Customers pick up orders via a machine while the only humans working on site are those preparing sandwiches. Meanwhile, US-based Mexican food chain Taco Bell made headlines last year by unveiling a concept at a Minneapolis restaurant where customers seemingly receive their orders via the sky, by means of a newfangled dumbwaiter. Fast food giants are coming up with a range of various concepts aimed at making the takeaway experience better and faster for a market segment that has been expanding since the pandemic.
All these various tests have one thing in common: customers use a screen, either their cell phone or one at the restaurant, to communicate their order. So what if ultimately, there was no longer any employee involved in the ordering process at the drive-thru of your favorite fast-food restaurant, but only AI? In the United States, the question no longer seems hypothetical, since chicken wing chain Wingstop announced that it planned to use a virtual voice assistant to take orders by phone in English and Spanish. In North America, this ordering mechanism is already playing a major role, representing 30% of the transactions at Wingstop, as trade publication Restaurant Business Online reported. The goal behind the implementation is simple: to reduce customer waiting times and free up employees for other tasks. It's a logical decision for a brand like Wingstop, which aims to ultimately fully digitalize transactions. Last year, the Dallas-based fast-food restaurant unveiled what it's calling the restaurant of the future: the location offers neither chairs nor tables, only order kiosks to encourage customers to get takeout.
Wingstop's artificial intelligence initiative for order taking is by no means an outlier. In the United States, other fast food chains such as Domino's, Del Taco and Panera are experimenting with the same type of tool, either for orders placed by phone or at the drive-thru.
AI is being used to respond to customer comments
In general, such digital tools are being most visibly used in the fast food business model, since they align with the principle of this type of eatery, ie, to quickly serve customers who want to consume their food rather quickly. But these types of technology aren't only being used in the milieu of fast food. Restaurant owners may also find a use for artificial intelligence, especially when it comes to taking the time to respond to customer comments posted online. This is now an essential aspect of the food business, not only in order to maintain one's online reputation but also to win over potential customers by demonstrating that clients' opinions are taken seriously into account.
That said, while the task may be unavoidable, it can also be rather time-consuming. That's why Californian digital marketing company SOCi has just raised $120 million to develop new tools based on artificial intelligence, including one specifically designed to respond to customer reviews. This means it would no longer be a community manager who would respond to both grievances and praise from consumers, but a robot using ChatGPT, the famous conversational agent developed by OpenAI.
