Wendy’s will use chatbots to take customer orders and underground robots to deliver them to customers in parking lots: ‘You won’t even know you’re not talking to a real person’
- Wendy’s has teamed up with hyperlogistics company Pipedream to test an underground autonomous robotic system
- The pilot delivers digital food orders from the kitchen to designated parking spots in seconds and is part of plans for faster pick-up experiences
- They will take the food through the underground delivery system to the car side pick up portals in designated parking areas so there will be no human interaction
The meteoric rise of artificial intelligence has put many jobs at risk and now fast food giant Wendy’s has announced it will use chatbots to take customer orders and use robots to deliver them.
It has teamed up with hyperlogistics company Pipedream to test an underground autonomous robotic system, and the company boasts that users won’t know they’re interacting with AI.
The pilot delivers digital food orders from the kitchen to designated parking spots in seconds and is part of plans for faster and more convenient pick-up experiences.
Wendy’s plans to launch the new system in an existing restaurant later this year and will use Google Cloud’s AI technology to talk to customers and take their orders.
Autonomous robots will move the food through the underground delivery system to the car-side pick-up portals where people have ordered, so there is no human intervention.
Wendy’s has announced that it will use chatbots to take customer orders and use robots to deliver them
The pilot delivers digital food orders from the kitchen to designated parking spots in seconds and is part of plans for faster pick-up experiences
Founded in 2021, Texas-based Pipedream uses an all-electric underground system to help businesses meet their delivery needs.
It also uses this system to serve customers and eliminate congestion while improving safety and easing the burden on employees.
The company will connect Wendy’s kitchen to the portal outside the restaurant through which the robots will drive to deliver the orders.
Customers don’t have to leave their cars as each designated spot has a pick-up portal.
The chatbot can engage in conversation with customers, answer frequently asked questions, and understand how to take custom or special orders.
When delivery drivers and others come to collect their orders, they can park in the parking lots next to the new system and speak to an employee through a loudspeaker to verify their identity.
The food is then delivered to the portal and they can grab it through the car window.
The system aims to support employees by “streamlining digital order pick-up points.”
Earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor told Yahoo Finance Live, “You won’t even know it’s AI taking your order, but you’re talking to Wendy’s voice.”
“We know that serving orders quickly and accurately leads to greater customer satisfaction,” said Deepak Ajmani, the company’s chief operations officer.
“Pipedream’s Instant Pickup system has the potential to unlock greater speed of service and accuracy for mobile orders, enabling us to consistently deliver hot and fresh Wendy’s products to our fans.”
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian praised the partnership, saying it will “set a new standard for great drive-thru experiences for the fast service industry.”
Wendy’s is still deciding where its first location will be and is looking at chains along the East Coast where most digital orders are.
According to a spokesman, installation of the new technology will not take longer than two weeks.
The system aims to support employees by “streamlining digital order pick-ups”
Wendy’s is still deciding where its first location will be and is looking at chains along the East Coast where most digital orders are
The use of AI has already brought benefits to customer service employees outside of the fast food industry, according to a study published last month.
The technology is said to have increased productivity and positively impacted the way customers interact with employees.
The National Bureau of Economic Research looked at “the impact of generative AI when widely deployed in the workplace.”
More than 5,000 customer service agents at a Fortune 500 software company were surveyed and employee productivity increased by 13.8% when using AI.
Employees were able to respond to customers faster, solve problems more successfully, and answer more questions with the technology.
The Wendy’s pilot comes after Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. introduced their own AI drive-thru system called ‘Tori’.
It was implemented to speed up the ordering process for customers and could ultimately boost businesses.
While Panera and Popeyes announced last year they were partnering with OpenCity, who were behind the Tori system, to test AI-powered technology for drive-thru orders.
And McDonald’s unveiled a fully automated restaurant in Texas last year where robots take orders and deliver.