Wendy's will trial AI voice-bot to replace drive-thru staff in Columbus in June

Fast food giant Wendy's is preparing to roll out an AI chatbot to take orders at its drive-thrus.

The chain will debut its new chatbot, powered by a natural language software developed by Google, at a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio starting this June. 

It has been trained by Google engineers to understand the various ways people order off the menus, including the different slang terms customers use for Wendy's items, and is supposed to be 'very conversational.'

The idea, executives say, is to streamline the ordering process and prevent long lines in the drive-thru lanes that could deter customers.

It is unclear how much the new tech cost the company, but CEO Todd Penegor has said the AI will not replace jobs and only assist the employees already working in the drive-thrus.

Yet an expert in AI technology says it could replace 80 percent of human jobs in the 'next few years.'

Wendy's is planning to roll out a new AI chatbot to take orders at its drive-thrus starting at a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio in June

It has been trained by Google engineers to understand the various ways people order off the menus

The new technology that will be deployed at the Columbus Wendy's uses Google's large language model, or LLM — a large algorithmic software tool loaded with words, phrases and popular expressions in different dialects and accents.

It is designed to mimic and recognize the syntax and semantics of human speech, and generate natural-language responses, images or computer codes, according to the Wall Street Journal. It will also be able to answer many of the company's frequently asked questions.

Executives say the customized language model Wendy's designed in partnership with Google includes unique terms, phrases and acronyms customers use when ordering its burgers, fries and other items — like 'JBC' for a junior bacon cheeseburger or 'biggie bags' for combos of burgers, chicken nuggets and sodas.

The company's milkshakes are also called Frosties, though customers may not always use the branded term.

'You may think driving by and speaking into a drive-thru is an easy problem for AI, but it's actually one of the hardest,' said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud.

He noted that the AI must also be capable of eliminating background noise from a car, like music or children in the backseat, in order to focus on the person ordering.

And it has to be able to adjust when customers change their mind halfway through an order.

'It's a very complicated technical problem,' Kurian said.

The new technology will take the orders and hand off the information to line cooks

The prepared meals will then be relayed to the pickup window and handed off to a driver

Under Wendy's plans for the software, once the chatbot takes an  order, it will appear on a screen for line cooks to process, then the prepared meals will be relayed to the pickup window and handed off to a driver by an employee.

Penegor said it will not replace employees, but will instead help workers in the drive-thrus do their jobs by handling many of the manual tasks involved in taking drive-thru orders.

Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor has said the technology will not replace human workers

At the same time, the chatbot is designed to upsell customers, offering larger sizes or specials.

The goal, Penegor told the Post, is to get more customers through the drive-thru in the shortest amount of time, enabling the company to make more sales quicker.

As much as 80 percent of Wendy's food orders are made on the drive-thru line, he noted, up from about 30 percent before the pandemic.

'Wendy's introduced the first modern pick-up window in the industry more than 50 years ago, and we're thrilled to continue our work with Google Cloud to bring a new wave of innovation to the drive-thru experience,' Penegor said in a statement.

'Google Cloud's generative AI technology creates a huge opportunity for us to deliver a truly differentiated, faster and frictionless experience for our customers, and allows our employees to continue focusing on making great food and building relationships with fans that keep them coming back time and again.'

Wendy's Chief Information Officer Kevin Vasconi has also said that test runs of the AI have proven successful.

'It's at least as good as our best customer service representative, and it's probably on average better,' he said. 

Ben Goertzel, a US-Brazilian tech boss, has warned that the new technology can take as many as 80 percent of human jobs over the next few years

The move comes as experts in the developing technology warn of the dangers of using artificial intelligence.

Thousands of tech leaders, including Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawking, have even signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause on AI development.

They argue that companies are taking part in a 'dangerous race' by advancing the technology so quickly, and it poses a 'profound risk to society and humanity'.

Ben Goertzel, a US-Brazilian tech boss, has also warned that the new technology can take as many as 80 percent of human jobs over the next few years.

'Pretty much every job involving paperwork should be automatable,' he said, at the Web Summit in Rio de Janeiro last week.

In March, a study revealed the 20 occupations most at risk of being made redundant thanks to AI, with call center operator at number one.

The following eight are all teachers of different disciplines, including languages, history, law and religion.

The study's authors wrote: 'The effect of AI on work will likely be multi-faceted. 

'In some cases, AI may substitute for work previously done by humans, and in other cases, AI may complement work done by humans.'