Fast-food restaurant executives seem to be conspiring to make our drive-thru and dining experience more annoying.
A week or so ago, I went through drive-thru for lunch at a place I’ve patronized several times in the last year. For several months, the drive-thru has been using AI to take orders.
I would much rather hear a human’s voice over the intercom because is this really where we should cut out human interaction?
Anyway, despite my love/mostly hate relationship with AI (Siri and Google Gemini absolutely hate me and choose to ignore or mishear me 25 percent of the time), I ordered my usual chicken at the restaurant drive-thru.
The AI, as it had many times before, heard my order correctly but then something went wrong. Maybe it was Whitesnake singing “Here I Go Again” too loudly in the background, but the AI determined I wanted tea.
While the restaurant had some interesting-sounding selections of tea that I could have tried, I did not want tea. I said, “I don’t want tea” and muttered some other words of frustration.
AI decided I didn’t want tea.
Thank you, AI.
AI then asked me what I wanted to order. I said I was done with my order.
AI, which had heard I don’t want tea, also determined I did not want chicken. It informed me I had nothing in my order, and I needed to order at least one thing to proceed.
For about five seconds, I temporarily lost my mind and flashed back to the time I was 25 and threw my cordless phone across the room while I was trying to maneuver through the automated system for the landline telephone company.
Gritting my teeth and glancing back at the truck waiting in line behind me, I repeated my chicken order.
AI repeated my chicken order to me, but in the wrong size.
I apparently spouted off some sarcastic comment that sounded like I wanted to order bottled water.
“No! Are you serious? I don’t want water!”
AI thankfully understood I didn’t want water and asked if my chicken order was correct.
Gritting my teeth about the wrong size, I reluctantly said yes, and I promised myself I would not return. I have not yet, but I’m sure I will crave that tasty chicken again.
This place isn’t the only one experimenting with AI in the drive-thru.
Taco Bell, Wendy’s, McDonald’s and more are experimenting with AI-powered drive-thru ordering systems.
I’m sure nothing can go wrong there.
According to ABC News, McDonald’s ArchIQ, which is a Google-powered AI platform, is being tested at five U.S. locations. It should be noted this isn’t McDonald’s first AI attempt.
The June ABC News story said, “ArchIQ is capable of taking orders in both English and Spanish and can respond to repeat customers who ask, ‘Can I get my usual?’ according to the franchise owner, who wrote on X that ‘90 percent of orders’ so far had been ‘completed without human escalations.’”
Human escalations! I’d love to hear how those human escalations went.
According to an article on gocanopy.com, only 15 percent of surveyed customers had encountered a drive-thru with AI, but the top issues were: misunderstood order (75 percent); added the wrong items; took too long; couldn’t answer questions; didn’t recognize voice; and couldn’t fix mistakes or change the order.
It seems as if restaurants are determined to find an AI platform that works, so good luck to us customers.
I worked in fast food for two years in my teens, and I enjoyed working drive-thru the most. Every time I handed food to a customer, I’d offer them a “Thank you” or “Have a good day.” At the very least, there was a “Here ya go.”
Nowadays, on occasion, a fast-food worker, not even giving me direct eye contact, will just hand me my food and close the drive-thru door.
My response is usually a puzzled, “Thank you?”
I guess I’d get it if the drive-thru was backed up and it was rush hour. After all, customers are probably ruder and more entitled than when I worked at a restaurant 30 years ago. And maybe I just had the worker who had his or her fill of people for the day.
But really, I think it’s just that the workers aren’t trained in basic customer service, and the restaurant focuses on quick drive-thru response times.
On another note, I’ve walked into Taco Bell and McDonald’s restaurants where workers refuse to give you eye contact and make you use the kiosk to order.
I don’t like this setup at all. What happened to greeting a customer when he or she walks in the door?
Come on, CEOs. Profits aren’t everything. Do you think I’m asking for too much for 2026 when 95 percent of the time I scan and bag my own groceries?