Taco Bell re-evaluating plans for AI drive-thru experience

A truck is seen at the drive-thru window of a Taco Bell fast food restaurant.

A truck is seen at the drive-thru window of a Taco Bell fast food restaurant. (Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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(NewsNation) — Taco Bell is rethinking its AI-driven service plans as customers express increasing frustration with recently implemented AI-powered ordering at drive-throughs.

Dane Matthews, Taco Bell’s Chief Digital and Technology Officer, told The Wall Street Journal the company is completely reevaluating where the technology best fits at its restaurants.

“We’re learning a lot, I’m going to be honest with you,” Matthews told the WSJ. “I think like everybody, sometimes it lets me down, but sometimes it really surprises me,”

Customers have taken to social media over the past year to complain about or mock the AI ordering system, even placing ridiculous orders, such as requesting 18,000 cups of water.

Taco Bell has already introduced the AI service to more than 500 drive-thru locations nationwide, according to the WSJ.

What exactly Taco Bell will do to address customer concerns involving AI remains unclear; however, Matthews noted that “it’s a very active conversation inside Taco Bell in partnership with our franchisees.”

Taco Bell is not the first major fast food chain to implement AI. McDonald’s and Wendy’s have also recently experimented with AI in their service, with varying results.

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