McDonalds to phase out AI-powered drive thru ordering after massive errors

Two years ago, McDonald’s started using artificial intelligence for its drive-thru orders. It was basically a pilot program that was rolled out over more than 100 McDonald’s locations. From the beginning, that little experience was a disaster. You know how when you ask Siri or Alexa to set a timer for 15 minutes, only to realize after like 25 minutes that the timer was never set and now your dinner is burned? Well, it was like that, only instead of burnt chicken, customers were getting 20 orders of McNuggets, multiple drinks added, and ice cream with bacon on top. The big mess ups went viral on social media, with people sharing the crazy things the McDonald’s drive-thru AI mistook their orders for. One customer shared a video where the AI added 20 orders of McNuggets instead of a 20 piece, which would have cost over $200! As a result, McDonald’s has announced that they’re going to ixnay the whole thing in July and reintroduce it after a later date.

“While there have been successes to date, we feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly,” Mason Smoot, chief restaurant officer for McDonald’s USA, told franchisees in an email obtained by Restaurant Business. “After a thoughtful review, McDonald’s has decided to end our current partnership with IBM on AOT and the technology will be shut off in all restaurants currently testing it no later than July 26, 2024.”

Smoot added that McDonald’s will continue to evaluate its plans to make “an informed decision on a future voice ordering solution by the end of the year.”

In February, a TikTok user known as “Ren” posted a video testimonial in which she described how cross-talk from a neighboring drive-thru station led the McDonald’s AI to add nine orders of sweet tea to her bill — instead of the hash brown, sweet tea and Coke that she ordered.

Another TikToker, Madilynn Cameron, posted a video that shows her “fighting with a McDonald’s robot” as she entered a drive-thru and placed an order of vanilla ice cream without caramel — only for the machine to add cream packets instead.

“I just want a large water and a cup of ice cream,” she said in the clip from November 2022. “Where’d the butter come from!”

In January, Cailyn Sykora posted a TikTok showing the AI-powered drive thru adding more than 20 orders of a McNuggets Meal worth some $222. “The McDonald’s robot is wild,” the caption on the TikTok video read.

McDonald’s embrace of AI can be traced back to 2019, when it acquired the startup firm Apprente, which introduced AI-based voice solutions that can be used in customer service settings. The acquisition of Apprente was done with the goal of eventually deploying the AI-powered technology at the restaurants’ drive-thru locations in order to improve speed and efficiency of order-taking. McDonald’s then folded Apprente into its own AI-focused division called McD Tech Labs. In 2021, McD Tech Labs was sold to IBM.

As part of the deal, IBM partnered with McDonald’s to scale up the rollout of its AI-powered automated order taking. McDonald’s told Restaurant Business that the goal of the pilot program was to test whether the new technology could speed up the drive-thru ordering process. The company said IBM will still be a “trusted partner and we will still utilize many of their products across our global system.”

“As we move forward, our work with IBM has given us the confidence that a voice-ordering solution for drive-thru will be part of our restaurants’ future,” McDonald’s said. “We see tremendous opportunity in advancing our restaurant technology and will continue to evaluate long-term, scalable solutions that will help us make an informed decision on a future voice ordering solution by the end of the year.”

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CNBC reports that “Two sources familiar with the technology told CNBC that among its challenges, it had issues interpreting different accents and dialects, which affected order accuracy.” McDonalds refused to comment and IBM did not respond to CNBC.

I think it was pretty obvious that companies are going to use AI for as long as it is still profitable to them. I mean, at the start, middle, and end of the day, that’s what this is all about, right? It’s not about customer experience or better efficiency or any of that other crap they feed us. No, it’s about profitability and making more money for executives and shareholders, with a smudge of good publicity thrown in for good measure. Of course they’re going to bring it back at some point. But, it’s never going to be foolproof. Mickey D’s is not the only company experimenting in AI, either. Wendy’s, Dunkin, Domino’s, KFC, Starbucks, Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr., and more are all doing it. I not-so-secretly hope that it blows up in all of their faces.

That said, this whole debacle reminds me of the movie Good Burger 2. Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s no cinematic masterpiece but we watched it with the kids a few months ago. They didn’t really appreciate it as much as their Millennial parents did, but they laughed at points. So anyway, *spoiler* but the climax of the movie involves a fast-food AI ordering system gone completely wrong. It’s actually pretty similar to this! All I’m sayin’ is that Kenan and Kel have always known what’s up.

AI can sometimes go hilariously wrong: McDonald's tested an AI ordering system in 100 US restaurants but stopped due to numerous funny and chaotic errors. Despite a claimed 85% accuracy, the remaining 15% caused too many issues. 🍔🤖 #TechFail #AI #McDonalds (Source: VRT NWS) pic.twitter.com/3UY16KD530

— itdevops bv (@itdevopsbv) June 19, 2024

photos credit: Quentin Bounias on Unsplash, RDNE Stock Project on Pexels

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