Dairy Queen is set to implement artificial intelligence across dozens of its drive-thru locations in the United States and Canada, joining a growing trend among fast-food chains. The initiative aims to significantly accelerate service speed and, crucially, encourage patrons to enhance their orders, thereby increasing sales, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
This widespread deployment follows a successful trial conducted last year. The technology is provided by Presto, an AI firm with an existing portfolio of partnerships including Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, Taco John’s, and Fazoli’s. It is worth noting a 2023 Bloomberg report which indicated that Presto’s AI drive-thru systems might be augmented by human operators situated in locations such as the Philippines.
The Presto chatbot demonstrates a high level of accuracy, correctly processing orders approximately 90 percent of the time, according to The Wall Street Journal. Kevin Baartman, Dairy Queen’s executive vice president of IT, shared with The Journal that during a test on a day when the chain offered complimentary ice cream cones, "the bots responded to lines of cars and never got crabby," highlighting their consistent performance under high demand.
Dairy Queen’s move comes amidst various AI explorations by competitors. Wendy’s initiated trials with Google-powered AI drive-thrus in 2023, while McDonald’s also conducted a brief pilot of a chatbot-driven system. In contrast, Taco Bell experienced customer frustration, with some even attempting to "troll" its chatbot, leading an executive to reevaluate the rollout strategy for their AI drive-thrus last year. Burger King is also testing AI in fewer than 100 restaurants, employing a chatbot within employees' headphones to assess "friendliness" and assist with meal preparation.
Dairy Queen has not disclosed the specific locations of these new AI-equipped drive-thrus, stating only that the rollout will commence in "select" franchise establishments across the US and Canada.
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