Wendy's is rushing to the future as they announced that AI will not be used to take orders, and if you think the fast food franchise is stopping there, then you're mistaken. It also plans to add underground robots in parking lots to deliver your order. Imagine that.
Park and Go
If Wendy's decides to go through with the subterranean robot plans, then you might not have to endure a long line in the drive-thru lane anymore. In partnership with hyperlogistics company Pipedream, it aims to add an underground autonomous robot system to its parking lots.
Customers will have to give their orders digitally, and the order will go from the kitchen to the customer's parking spot. Based on the photo, there will be booths beside each spot, which will hold the order of the person parked beside it.
The fast-food franchise boasts that it is the "first quick service restaurant (QSR) to pilot this cutting-edge technology," which will make for a service of greater ease, speed, and accuracy, barring any human error, of course.
U.S. Chief Operations Officer of the Wendy's Company, Deepak Ajmani says they know that serving orders quickly and accurately leads to increased customer satisfaction. The technology will improve the current mobile order service of the franchise.
An "Instant Pickup Portal" will have a direct connection to the Wendy's kitchen, wherein the first-of-its-kind delivery system with autonomous robots will bring the order to the said portal so customers may retrieve them.
The Senior Vice President and Global Chief Technology Officer of the company expressed that Wendy's is constantly innovating to meet the customers however they choose to engage with the fast food franchise. Although it's a good vision, it may face some difficulties.
First, of course, they will have to make sure that their food order-taking AI fares well. If that fails or doesn't meet the expectations of the customers and the company, then something that's significantly more advanced like an autonomous underground delivery system will have to wait.
McDonald's AI Drive-Thru Didn't Do Well
If Wendy's will follow in the footsteps of McDonald's in its venture with AI, then it might be in trouble since the latter did encounter troubles when it comes to taking orders. Customers found themselves repeating their orders because the AI kept getting them wrong, as reported in Gizmodo.
A user on TikTok showed how she ordered vanilla ice cream and a cup of water, and all throughout the video, it was evident that the AI was having trouble comprehending the order. The AI even added a ketchup packet and butter as it tried to correct the mistake.
When another TikTok user tried to order a medium Coke, the AI registered Mountain Dew instead. Since the customer cannot seem to correct the mistake, they decided to cancel it and start over instead.
The AI drive-thru was installed back in June 2021, and admittedly, AI has had a lot of progress since then, so maybe Wendy's will be spared the embarrassment of taking inaccurate orders and infuriating impatient customers.
