Wendy’s replaces human drive-thru order takers with an AI chatbot -.

In home state Ohio, fast food chain Wendy’s is testing a new technology. In partnership with Google, it is creating an AI chatbot that understands how customers typically place orders in drive-thrus and responds accordingly and takes their order in a conversational way.

Wendy’s believes some customers may not even realize they are talking to an AI chatbot because they hope to provide a similar experience to a human-staffed drive-thru. If they’re looking for such an experience, you might recommend just keeping the use of humans, but that’s a debate we’d rather not get into.

Wendy’s chief information officer said early tests of the AI chatbot are showing promising results. He said: “It’s at least as good as our best customer service rep, and it’s probably better on average.”

The people behind the chatbot also programmed it to upsell, so you are asked by a robot if you want to supersize your meal, add extras and everything else that irritates you at a drive-thru.

How do you feel about an AI taking your order?