It Begins...... AI takes over Order Taking at Fast Food Drive Thru... operates without fatigue, breaks or compensation...Reduces Order Time
At this fast food drive through, the person taking your
order might not be a person at all
Peter Holley, The Washington Post Published 4:17 am PST,
Friday, February 22, 2019
Artificially intelligent virtual assistants will take
center stage as the year’s most important topic, with tech companies big and
small expected to showcase voice-controlled devices like robot vacuums, alarm
clocks, refrigerators and car accessories. (Glenn Harvey/The New York Times)
The drive through window is often considered the most
harrowing assignment inside a fast-food restaurant.
A nonstop whirlwind of multitasking, the gig involves
organizing multiple orders, communicating with the kitchen, counting money and
negotiating with an endless stream of customers who range from polite and
coherent to angry and inebriated -- all for a minimum wage reward.
If that juggling act wasn't hard enough, a giant timer
hangs in many drive through kitchens, adding urgency to each task, former
workers say.
Though the drive through gantlet has broken many a fast
food worker, the newest employee at Good Times Burgers & Frozen Custard in
Denver will not be feeling the heat anytime soon. That's because she's an
artificially intelligent voice assistant -- emotion-free and immune to stress
-- with the ability to operate a drive through window without fatigue, bathroom
breaks or compensation.
She fills a classically American job nearly a century in
the making, a rite of passage for generations of teenagers that could be in the
very early stages of a mass extinction. But first Rob Carpenter, the CEO and
founder of Valyant AI, an artificial intelligence company that designed the
customer service platform, will have to prove that his model works as well as
he says it does.
The AI assistant has endured months of testing, but
officially began handling the restaurant's breakfast orders last week. If the
fledgling assistant runs into any technical issues, the transaction is handed
off to a human employee inside the restaurant.
"The system takes a lot of friction out of
interactions between customers and employees," Carpenter said, noting that
the AI was designed to sound like an amiable woman's voice. "The AI never
gets offended and it will just keep talking to you in a very calm and friendly
voice."
There's an immediate benefit for employees as well,
Carpenter maintains.
"Over the course of an eight-hour shift, they don't
have to repeat the same welcome language hundreds of times," he said.
Intelligent, interactive machines, once the stuff of
sci-fi movies and futuristic fantasy, are quickly becoming a reality,
especially in the fast food dining world, where repetition rules and
improvisation is limited. In restaurants around the globe, machines are already
taking orders, flipping burgers, preparing pizzas, pouring stiff drinks and
cooking entire meals in full view of hungry customers.
Fast food restaurants like Starbucks, Wendy's, Panera and
McDonald's encourage customers to order using self-service kiosks or a mobile
app. But Valyant AI appears to be one of the first companies to create a
platform for taking orders via an interactive AI voice assistant - one who also
happens to be the first company representative many customers will encounter.
Carpenter said the assistant's conversational cadence --
which sounds like a more fluid version of Amazon's Alexa -- was designed to
replicate human interactions, with limited pauses and a menu-based script that
varies depending on the exchange.
In a video demonstrating the AI assistant, a woman's
voice can be heard saying:
"Hi, I'm your automated order taker. Take your time,
order when you're ready."
When man in the video asks for a breakfast burrito, the
robot describes two different types and burritos and asks which one he would
like. After discussing specific details of the order and asking whether he
wants a drink or a combo meal, the voice assistant confirms the order one last
time.
"Thank you, please pull forward to the window,"
the voice says, concluding the interaction.
Other companies are pitching similar technology to
McDonald's and Taco Bell, as well as several major banks, according to
TechCrunch.
The technology arrives at a time that fast food customers
are seeking even more quickness and convenience, Carpenter said. He pointed to
a recent study from QSR Magazine that found that 70 percent of fast food
restaurant sales now occur at the drive-through window, a number that has led
to an increase in traffic and wait times for food.
Customers waited an average of 234 seconds for their
burger and fries in 2018, compared with about 225 seconds the year before,
according to QSR. Wendy's holds the record for the shortest wait time, a
blazing 116 seconds, which was set in 2003, the magazine reported.
With more vehicles creating drive through into traffic
jams, Carpenter said his company's voice assistant was designed to increase the
speed of service. Instead of one employee managing multiple drive through
lanes, which is often the case, he said, employees can focus on preparing food
and processing payment. Longer lines mean potential customers will look for
another restaurant, he said.
Initial tests, which began last fall, showed about a 25
percent reduction in order time, Carpenter said. With more efficiency comes
more profitability, he said, and with more profitability comes more locations
and jobs. Carpenter remains adamant: his robotic worker will not cost people
their jobs, he said.
"It's really designed to be a helper for
employees," Carpenter said. "Two weeks ago we had a blizzard in
Denver and one employee couldn't make it, but the employees were able to turn
on the AI system so they weren't falling behind. They were extremely
appreciative and really liked getting that assistance and help."
But critics claim tools like Carpenter's assistant will
ultimately harm more workers than it helps. Erikka Knuti -- communications
director for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union -- said too many
businesses treat customer service as a line item cost instead of an investment.
In addition to eliminating jobs, she said, removing people from transactions
degrades the product businesses are selling.
"Retailers and businesses underestimate the
importance of the customer service interaction -- that point when a customer
hands over their money and they get a warm smile in return that tells them
they're valued," she said.
Asked what message an artificially intelligent voice
assistant sends to customers, Knuti said it's clear:
"These companies are saying, 'We don't care about
you and we don't care if you're getting better service,'" she said.
"They'll say it's more efficient, but I don't know any situation where somebody
said, 'I'm really glad that there wasn't somebody there at customer service or
checkout when I needed help."
"It’s like stripping the vitamins out of food and
selling it to people like its nutritious," she added.
Carpenter thinks widespread automation inside restaurants
is inevitable and will eventually create a two-tiered restaurant experience.
Customers seeking convenient fast food options will wind up at restaurants
staffed primarily by machines. But those seeking slower, more high end dining options
will end up at establishments staffed by human employees.
"These trends are about giving the customer more
choice," he said.
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