McDonald's seems to be changing the direction of its artificial intelligence (AI) program. According to reports, this fast food giant is about to terminate its "AI ordering" partnership with IBM, but insists that artificial intelligence will have a place in the future drive through service (commonly known as "drive-throu").
According to the report, McDonald's will stop testing its AI ordering technology in over 100 restaurants across the United States for in car ordering systems. According to a memo sent to franchisees later last week obtained by the media, the so-called automatic order receiver will be closed no later than July 26th. Analysis suggests that this may become a barrier to the rapid promotion of artificial intelligence in the fast food industry.
It is understood that the cooperation between McDonald's and IBM began in 2021. The technology combination of the two companies aims to simplify and accelerate operations through voice controlled ordering.
"Although we have achieved success so far, we feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more widely. After careful evaluation, McDonald's has decided to end its current cooperation with IBM in AOT (Automated Order Processing)," said Mason Smooth, Senior Vice President and Chief Restaurant Officer for McDonald's US region, in a memo to franchisees
"IBM remains a trusted partner and we will continue to use many of their other products in our system," he added.
Two sources familiar with the technology revealed that the challenges it faces include the inability to understand different accents and dialects, which can affect the accuracy of orders. McDonald's stated in a statement that although it has ended its partnership with IBM, it does not rule out the possibility of launching AI in the future.
"As we grow, our collaboration with IBM has given us confidence that voice ordering solutions will become a part of our restaurant's future. We see tremendous opportunities in improving restaurant technology and will continue to evaluate long-term, scalable solutions that will help us make informed decisions about future voice ordering solutions by the end of this year," the statement said.
IBM stated in a statement that it will collaborate with McDonald's on "various other projects" after the testing is completed. The company also stated, "IBM is currently discussing and piloting with several fast food restaurant customers interested in AOT technology."
Although McDonald's future artificial intelligence plans are not yet clear, everyone's attention will be focused on Alphabet's Google. On Investor Day in December last year, McDonald's announced a new partnership with Google Cloud, but neither company provided specific details.
At that time, Alphabet CEO Sandal Pichai said in a statement: "We are glad to see that McDonald's will use our generative AI, cloud and edge computing tools to improve their iconic dining experience for employees and customers around the world."