Why can’t McDonald’s AI just take this customer’s order?

This McDonald’s AI machine wants to take your order, but can it? In a TikTok video that’s gone viral, a McDonald’s drive-thru customer tries to order using an AI-powered screen, but the AI ​​doesn’t understand what he’s talking about. Apparently, this customer isn’t the only one.

As TikTokers Stori and Gaby (@storiandgaby) attempt to order food from McDonald’s, they notice that the items on the screen simply aren’t right.

“Oh my God, what’s going on? Why are there five McDoubles?” one of them asks. They then ask McDonald’s AI to delete everything from their order and start over. It doesn’t work. Finally, they try to give the screen their discount code, but it still doesn’t get it.

Finally, a McDonald’s employee comes over the intercom: “You said you had a code?” they ask.

The video had been viewed 1.1 million times and received more than 45,000 likes as of Saturday morning.

@storiandgaby AI wins this round #mcdonalds #ai #fyp #wlw #peebus ♬ original sound – Stori & Gaby

Technological failure amuses viewers

“I would have shouted ‘talk to a representative’!” one comment read.

“Oh my god you deserve a Guinness World Record you stopped AI,” wrote another.

“The future is here!!!,” one user commented sarcastically.

One user added: “Hardee’s in my town has this and people hate it. I did it once (unknowingly) and I won’t do it again.”

According to a CNBC article, McDonald’s discontinued its AI systems in July. While the reason is unclear, the senior vice president and chief restaurant officer said the following in a press note: “While we have seen success to date, we believe there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly… After careful consideration, McDonald’s has decided to end our current partnership with IBM on AOT… IBM remains a trusted partner and we will continue to use many of their other products in our system.”

While the language is a bit ambiguous, “exploring voice ordering solutions more broadly” could imply that they recognize that the current system was not working optimally. This failure of McDonald’s AI and the company’s decision to discontinue the solution show us the challenges that AI poses in the restaurant system today.

This isn’t the first time McDonald’s has been in the news for an AI fail. In a previous viral video, a customer filmed how the AI ​​tried to add bacon to his ice cream, while in another, a customer added 9 sweet teas to a customer’s order.

The Daily Dot reached out to Stormi and Gaby for comment via Instagram and TikTok. The Dot also reached out to McDonald’s via email.

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