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McDonald’s scraps AI pilot after order mix-ups go viral

Fast food giant pulls plug on AI-powered voice-ordering at about 100 outlets after viral videos of order mishaps.

Still, McDonald’s signalled that the aborted trial would not be the end of its experiments with AI, saying that “our work with IBM has given us the confidence that a voice ordering solution for [drive-through] will be part of our restaurants’ future”. Major US fast food giants including Chipotle, Wendy’s, Carl’s Jr, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut have rolled out AI-assisted systems in recent years. In April, Joe Park, the technology chief at Yum Brands, the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, told the Wall Street Journal that the group believes an “AI-first mentality works every step of the way”.

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