Chatbots in the drive-thru are just the beginning

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In 2021, McDonald’s became one of the first fast food chains to greet customers with an AI chatbot at the drive-thru. It started small, using voice ordering technology at its 10 locations in Chicago. McDonald’s developed its drive-thru technology after acquiring Apprente, a startup focused on voice-based technology, in a deal in 2019, and later worked with IBM to scale automated ordering.

This was just the beginning of the AI ​​drive-thru. Checkers and Rally’s have teamed up with AI company Presto to put a chatbot in all of the company’s drive-thrus in the US by 2022, with the goal of selling more food and drinks to customers and improving order accuracy. The company also said the technology “will free up workers in the most human-dependent areas of their business.”

Wendy’s and Taco Bell followed suit. In 2023, Wendy’s is launching its “FreshAI” chatbot at one of its drive-thrus in Columbus, Ohio in 2023. The company worked with Google to create an AI chatbot trained in the franchise’s language, so it understands “milkshake” “Frosty” and “JBC” or “JBC.” Wendy’s began expanding the technology months after its launch, saying it received orders without staff intervention 86 percent of the time.

Taco Bell had been testing its Voice AI drive-thru at the same time and later announced plans to expand the technology to hundreds of locations in the US by the end of 2024. Similar to other fast food chains, Taco Bell pitched the idea as a way to reduce workload for employees and slash drive-thru wait times. Other chains are also beginning to experiment with the technology, including Panera Bread, White Castle, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, Panda Express, and Popeyes.

By now, you’ve likely encountered at least one AI chatbot at one of your local fast food chains. I spoke to someone at Checkers, where someone quickly took over after I was told that one of the sandwiches I was trying to order was out of stock. Even as companies continue to expand their use of AI drive-thrus, customers aren’t exactly fans.

A January 2025 survey by YouGov found that 55 percent of Americans would prefer someone to take their order while driving, compared to 21 percent who were undecided, and 4 percent who preferred to use an AI chatbot. That generally lukewarm response could have implications for other franchises, as McDonald’s ended its relationship with IBM in 2024. A year later, Taco Bell’s chief digital officer Dane Mathews told. The Wall Street Journal that it is revising its AI drive-thru deployment after customers voiced their frustration on social media and trolled the technology by ordering 18,000 water cups. Some people suggest making the same annoying orders or speaking in a different language just to bypass the technology and talk to a human employee.

Customer frustration isn’t the only snag AI drive-thrus are running; their credibility is a problem, too. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Presto — the company that powers AI drive-thrus at Checkers, Rally’s, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, and now, Dairy Queen — with misleading customers about its technology’s capabilities. In 2023, an SEC filing revealed that employees in the Philippines intervened in many of the orders taken by Presto’s AI system.

Fast food chains are taking AI beyond the drive-thru. However The Wall Street Journal reports that McDonald’s is giving AI-powered drive-thrus a second chance, and is exploring other ways to use the technology, including a system that predicts when its machines (like its ever-seemingly illegal machine) will break down. The company also uses an AI-powered scale to compare an order’s target weight with its actual weight, then alert staff if something is missing, potentially helping staff remember to pack your to-go bag with fries.

Burger King, which is conducting a limited trial of AI drive-thrus, announced in February that it is testing an AI assistant, called “Patty,” that lives inside employees’ headsets. Employees can chat with an AI assistant if they need help preparing a meal, such as forgetting how many pieces of bacon to put in a Texas Double Whopper. At the same time, Patty listens to the employees to see if they are friendly. That means tracking when they say “Welcome to Burger King,” “please,” and “thank you.” Burger King also uses AI to notify managers when a machine is down or when an item is out of stock, as well as removing affected items from a digital menu board.

Taco Bell is experimenting with an AI-driven menu board, too. But instead of using AI to remove items from the menu, it will use technology to “dynamically change positioning, content, and visuals on a car-by-car basis,” Ranjith Roy, chief financial officer of Taco Bell’s parent company Yum!, said during the company’s recent earnings call. Roy’s isn’t expanding on this, but it seems likely that he would allow Taco Bell to adjust the menu based on the customers who are pulling in.

Other uses of AI are also developing. Both Culver’s and Zaxbys are working with a company called Berry AI to put camera timers in the drive-thru to capture data about traffic flow, service performance, and more. Berry AI says its technology shortens drive-thru service time by 20 to 40 percent. It seems that fast food chains may start using AI technology that’s less in-your-face than the AI ​​chat at the drive-thru window, whether it’s menu changes you don’t see, or the scale that weighs your bag of food before it’s served to you — at least until these companies improve their chatbot technology.