“How Restaurants are Using A.I. to boost sales growth” is a report by CNBC’s Kate Rogers on how restaurant brands are using AI technology in front of house and back of house and when it might be widely adopted.
Here’s a summary of the video:
- Cowan’s research anticipates widespread AI adoption for both voice ordering and kitchen robotics in the next 12 to 18 months. This is due to several reasons including a tight labor backdrop and unionization risks.
- Restaurants that are testing voice ordering technology include Yum brands, Carl’s Jr, Hardee’s, and McDonald’s. One key aspect of the technology is upselling consumers in a way humans might not be comfortable doing and freeing up time for workers to interact with guests.
- Panera is one company that’s working with Open City AI to test out voice ordering, and it’s also working with Miso Robotics using AI on its coffee to ensure quality and temperature control.
- Chipotle has a similar use case with Chippy, a Miso Robotics product. Its next iteration determines how many chips need to be made with AI technology.
- The emphasis seems to be on freeing up time for workers to interact more with guests and ensure that they really do have a better experience.
- There are challenges in employing AI. These include getting franchisees at bigger companies like McDonald’s or Restaurant Brands International on board and agreeing that it works. Language models are tough to train not only in literally what language you’re speaking but also on the nuances of the menu and ordering. This changes restaurant roles as well in certain capacities.
- The expectation is that AI will follow a similar trajectory to third-party delivery, which was thought about and tested by some brands before becoming widespread.
