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In a nutshell: McDonald’s is turning to artificial intelligence to improve operations at 43,000 restaurants. The initiative, according to Chief Information Officer Brian Rice, will help crews deal with daily stressors including customer and vendor interactions as well as equipment failures.
The Wall Street Journal notes that McDonald’s starting rolling out edge computing platforms at some of its US restaurants last year, and plans to add more to the mix in 2025.
The new tech affords a host of possibilities. Computer vision, for example, could check for accuracy using fixed cameras in the kitchen before an order is passed along to a customer. Automated order-taking AI, like the kind McDonald’s tested with IBM last year, could streamline drive-thru orders. Sensors installed on kitchen equipment could collect data in real time and use it to better predict when deep fryers or ice cream machines are most likely to fail.
Elsewhere, edge computing could help restaurant managers with administrative tasks. A “generative AI virtual manager, similar to ones Taco Bell and Pizza Hut have been testing, would make it easier for managers to perform shift scheduling.
McDonald’s would not say how many locations in the US currently have edge computing capabilities in use. As Sandeep Unni, a retail analyst at market research firm Gartner, highlights, the popular burger giant will no doubt face difficulty when it comes to rolling out the tech across franchise and corporate owned locations. Deployment costs are also a concern, Unni added.
Whether or not the technology supplements are needed is partially a matter of personal opinion. One could argue that funding for the initiative could perhaps be better spent on improving employee training and tightening up routine maintenance. If staff was more efficient at tasks like taking drive-thru orders and ensuring order accuracy, AI overlords wouldn’t be needed.
Rival fast food outfits like In-N-Out and Chick-fil-A have perfected customer service, and there’s little reason why others couldn’t replicate their success if it were made a priority.
Image credit: Erik Mclean, Brett Jordan
Margarett Haslett
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