In the newly released Work Trend Index report from Microsoft, it says that employees were hoping to use new AI features to be more productive in their jobs. An example of how AI could do just that was just revealed by the fast food restaurant chain Wendy"s.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Wendy"s has been working with Google on an AI chatbot that would take orders from drive-thru customers. The chatbot is likely a modified version of Google"s Bard. This new chatbot for Wendy"s will be able to recognize words that might only be used at the drive-thru, such as ordering a Frosty (Wendy"s version of a milkshake). It will also be designed to get customers to upsize their orders, or state some daily specials. The ultimate goal is for the chatbot to reduce the wait time at the drive-thru and thus get more sales.
The article says this drive-thru chatbot will be set up at one of Wendy"s company-owned locations in Columbus, Ohio in June. If it does its job right, customers won"t know the difference between a human taking an order and the chatbot. Wendy"s says this will not replace any workers in their locations but rather will allow them to concentrate on other jobs. There"s no word on when this technology might find its way to other Wendy"s locations.