- Restaurants have seized the opportunity to deploy robots to assist with food preparation in the back and AI computers in the front of the house
- Robot servers bring food to tables and deliver to homes, while food processors make salads, flip burgers and fry tortilla chips
Wendy’s, IHOP, Chipotle, Sweetgreen and other fast food chains are quickly integrating AI into their operations.
Restaurants have seized the opportunity to deploy robots to assist with food preparation in the back and AI computers in the front of the house.
Robot servers bring food to tables and deliver to homes, while food processors make salads, flip burgers and fry tortilla chips.
AI voice robots are also used to take orders at drive-thrus and use menu recommendation engines that suggest dishes based on your previous orders.
The restaurant industry has seized the opportunity to reduce labor costs, especially during a period of workforce shortages.
Restaurants have seized the opportunity to use robots to help prepare food in the back
Robot servers bring food to tables and deliver it to homes, while food processors make salads, flip burgers and fry tortilla chips
Companies are also keen to increase sales by encouraging individual orders through recommendations.
However, customers have greeted the changes with a mixed reception.
Wendy’s is partnering with Google Cloud to introduce voice automation at its drive-thru locations, following the lead of McDonald’s and Del Taco.
Similarly, IHOP also partners with Google Cloud to provide personalized recommendations to people who order online.
“We truly believe that Google is positioned to be the partner of choice for foodservice customers,” Amy Eschliman, Google’s Managing Director of Cloud Retail Industry Solutions, told Axios.
“Discovering new products is a key challenge for consumers: finding the right product to match another product,” Eschliman said.
Chipotle is also testing the use of robots to fulfill their online orders by using an automated system from a company called Hyphen that uses “intelligent dispensers” to place toppings on salads.
Preparing a salad or bowl “doesn’t have the same art as preparing guac or rolling a burrito,” Curt Garner, Chipotle’s chief customer and technology officer, told OttOMate.
Chipotle is also trying to use robots to place toppings on salads
Wendy’s partners with Google Cloud to introduce voice automation at its drive-thru locations, following in the footsteps of McDonald’s and Del Taco
IHOP also partners with Google Cloud to provide personalized recommendations to people who order online
“We believe this task is better accomplished by a machine, while an employee can spend their time operating the top production line or preparing more fresh food,” he added.
Salad chain Sweetgreens has acquired Spyce, a robotic food preparation company, and is using its technology to speed up service by preparing salads faster. The Wall Street Journal reports this.
AI is also creeping behind the scenes of these large companies, including in the areas of inventory management, workforce planning and food safety.
However, customers have started complaining on social media after their orders or experiences were negative due to AI involvement.
One McDonald’s customer complained on TikTok when McDonald’s AI went rogue during their drive-thru and gave them 28 orders of Chicken McNuggets.
