In August 1960, George Pal's "The Time Machine," took movie-goers on a trip to the distant future.
One month later, while Chubby Checker's version of "The Twist" was climbing the charts, a man named Wilbur Hardee opened the restaurant that bears his name in Greenville, N.C.
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Time marched on, Hardee's expanded and would eventually be acquired by CKE Restaurant Holdings, which also owns Carl's Jr.
Now both restaurants chains are taking a step into the future by rolling out artificial intelligence at their drive-thrus.
CKE is getting together with AI companies Presto Automation (PRST) , OpenCity, and Valyant AI to automate voice ordering at participating drive-thru locations across the country, which is rather impressive since Carl's Jr. and Hardee's operate roughly 2,800 restaurants across 44 states.
OpenCity said its AI proprietary voice ordering platform called "Tori" will be implemented at select US restaurants. Customers will place their order with Tori and then pay a CKE employee for their meal at the pickup window.
"The AI technology has transformed our drive-thru experience, providing us with a competitive edge in the market and helping us to better serve our guests." Phil Crawford, the chief technology officer at CKE, said in a statement.
Carl's Jr.
Enhancing 'Guest and Staff Experience'
Valyant AI said its conversational AI platform, "Holly" will be available at drive-thrus at participating corporate and franchisee locations nationwide.
Valyant’s said “Holly,” streamlines the customer service experience, improves employee efficiency by helping reduce customer wait times, and increase so-called upsell opportunities, or chances to make additional sales to customers.
Presto said it will be rolling out its AI-powered technology, Presto Voice, to automate voice ordering at participating drive-thru locations nationwide.
The San Carlos, Calif., company said Presto Voice, which has already been implemented at select Carl's Jr. and Hardee's drive-thru locations within the U.S., "increases revenue, improves labor productivity, and enhances the guest and staff experience."
Rajat Suri, Presto's founder and CEO, said during a Feb. 15 second-quarter earnings call with analysts that thanks to ChatGPT and OpenAI, there is now mainstream interest in artificial intelligence."
"And everyone can see what we all have known at Presto for many years, that AI is a transformational technology that will dramatically increase productivity in a wide variety of applications and industries," he said, according a transcript of the call.
The use of AI in the restaurant industry is only likely to grow. In 2021, IBM (IBM) announced an agreement with McDonald's (MCD) to accelerate deployment of its Automated Order Technology.
However, several news outlets reported in February that disgruntled customers were posting videos on TikTok complaining about their orders.
AI Systems 'Not Infallible'
In a Feb. 14 blogpost, software company Revel Systems discussed the pros and cons of AI in the restaurant industry.
Among other issues, the post warned about difficulties managing the systems. noting that "while AI systems can be very helpful for your establishment restaurants, they are not infallible."
"AI can still make mistakes, whether from user input error, a coding problem in the algorithm, or some other factor," the post said. "If this happens, it can cause problems like ordering too much food or not enough food or even setting the wrong prices for items on the menu."
Just like a mistake made by a human employee, the post continued "this sort of error can lead to customer dissatisfaction or lost sales for your business."
Revel Systems also said that using AI in a restaurant business could also mean fewer jobs.
"One of the benefits for a restaurant owner is the fact that digital process automation can be used to replace people in ordering processes," the company said. "However, what this means for employees is that AI technology may end up putting many of them out of a job, especially if their work revolves around completing a repetitive task."
Revel Systems said some employees may become disgruntled when an AI system is implemented.
"Be aware of this potential drawback and its effect on team morale before you start an AI-based digital transformation in your restaurant," the post said.
