Since 2023, the chain introduced voice AI at over 500 US drive-through locations to reduce mistakes and speed orders. Widespread glitches and viral clips showing erroneous interactions—including an order for 18,000 water cups and repeated prompts to add drinks—prompted major customer complaints on social media. The company acknowledges deployment challenges, reports learning from the rollout, and intends to reassess where voice AI is used, potentially avoiding busy drive-throughs. Staff coaching will focus on when to rely on voice AI and when human intervention is preferable. Similar drive-through AI experiments at other chains previously produced costly errors.
Taco Bell is rethinking its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to power drive-through restaurants in the US after comical videos of the tech making mistakes were viewed millions of times. In one clip, a customer seemingly crashed the system by ordering 18,000 water cups, while in another a person got increasingly angry as the AI repeatedly asked him to add more drinks to his order.
Taco Bell's Chief Digital and Technology Officer Dane Mathews told The Wall Street Journal that deploying the voice AI has had its challenges. "Sometimes it lets me down, but sometimes it really surprises me," he said. He said the firm was "learning a lot" - but he would now think carefully about where to use AI going forwards, including not using it at drive-throughs.
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