【AI前沿】Chatbots at the drive-thru are just the beginning

ColumnAIThe StepbackChatbots at the drive-thru are just the beginningMay AI take your order?byEmma RothMay 17, 2026, 12:00 PM UTCLinkShareGiftImage: Getty ImagesColumnAIThe StepbackChatbots at the drive-thru are just the beginningMay AI take your order?byEmma RothMay 17, 2026, 12:00 PM UTCLinkShareGiftEmma Rothis a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.This isThe Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about how AI is seeping into our daily lives,follow Emma Roth.The Stepbackarrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in forThe Stepbackhere.How it startedIn 2021, McDonald’sbecame one of the first major fast-food chainsto greet customers with an AI chatbot at the drive-thru. It started small, deploying the voice-ordering technology at 10 of its locations in Chicago. McDonald’s developed its drive-thru tech afteracquiring Apprente, a startup focused on voice-based, conversational technology in 2019, andlater worked with IBMto scale automated ordering.This was only the beginning of the AI drive-thru. Checkers and Rally’steamed up with the AI company Prestoto put a chatbot at all corporate-owned drive-thrus in the US in 2022, with the goal of selling more food and drinks to customers and improving order accuracy. The company also said the tech will “free up staff for more people-dependent areas of their business.”Wendy’s and Taco Bell followed suit. In 2023, Wendy’s launched its “FreshAI” chatbot at one of itsdrive-thrus in Columbus, Ohio in 2023. The company worked with Google to develop an AI chatbot trained on the franchise’s lingo, so it understands that a “milkshake” is a “Frosty” and that a “JBC” is a “junior bacon cheeseburger.”Wendy’s began expanding the technologymonths after its launch, saying that it got orders right without employee intervention 86 percent of the time.Taco Bell had been testing its Voice AI drive-thru around the same time and later announced plans to expand the technology to hundreds of locations in the US by the end of 2024. Similar to other fast food chains, Taco Bell pitched the idea as a way to reduce the task load for employees and slash drive-thru wait times. Other chains began trying out the technology as well, includingPanera Bread,White Castle,Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s,Panda Express,andPopeyes.How it’s goingBy now, you might’ve encountered at least one AI chatbot at one of your local fast-food chains. I spoke to one at Checkers, where a human quickly took over after I was told one of the sandwiches I tried to order was out of stock. Even as companies continue to expand their use of AI drive-thrus, customers aren’t exactly fans of it.AJanuary 2025 survey conducted by YouGovfound that 55 percent of Americans would prefer a human to take their order at the drive-thru, compared to 21 percent who had no preference, and 4 percent who would rather use an AI chatbot. That generally lukewarm response may be having an impact on some franchises,as McDonald’s ended its partnershipwith IBM in 2024. One year later, Taco Bell chief digital officer Dane Mathews toldThe Wall Street Journalthat it’sreevaluating its deploymentof the AI drive-thru after customers expressed their frustrations on social media and trolled the technology byordering 18,000 water cups. Some people suggest makingsimilarly outrageousorders or speaking in adifferent languagejust to bypass the tech and speak to a human worker.Customer frustration isn’t the only snag AI drive-thrus are running into; their credibility is an issue, too. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commissioncharged Presto— the company that powers the AI drive-thrus at Checkers, Rally’s, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, andnow, Dairy Queen— with misleading customers about the capabilities of its technology. In 2023, an SEC filing revealed thathuman workers in the Philippinesstepped in for most orders taken by Presto’s AI system.What happens nextFast-food chains are taking AI beyond the drive-thru. ThoughThe Wall Street Journalreportsthat McDonald’s is giving AI-powered drive-thrus a second chance, it’s also exploring other ways to utilize the technology, including a system that predicts when its equipment (like its seeminglyalways out-of-order ice cream machine) is likely to break down. The company is also usingAI-powered scalesto compare the target weight of an order versus its actual weight, and then alert employees if something is missing, potentially helping workers remember to pack your to-go bag with fries.Burger King, which is running a limited test of AI drive-thrus, announced in February that it’s pilotingan AI assistant, called “Patty,” that lives inside employees’ headsets. Workers can chat with the AI assistant if they need help preparing food, such as if they forget how many strips of bacon to put on a T