8 ms·

Wendy’s, Google Train Next-Generation Order Taker: An AI Chatbot

36 points by mfiguiere 4y ago

alphabetting 4y ago
"Are you sentient?" "Sir, this is a Wendy's."
- aldarisbm 4y ago
  well that was enough hackernews for today
d00d1toldme2p 4y ago
I'll be honest, the idea of having a chatbot take my order doesn't seem all that bad to me. While I understand that human interaction adds a personal touch and can sometimes make the ordering process more enjoyable, I've also had my fair share of experiences where the conversation didn't exactly go smoothly. Miscommunications can lead to order mistakes, and let's not forget about those awkward moments when you can't understand each other or when the background noise is overwhelming. In many cases, I firmly believe that a well-programmed chatbot could actually streamline the ordering process, reducing human errors and saving time for both the customer and the staff. For busy individuals like myself who are often running to grab something to eat in-between meetings or after work, efficiency is key. Furthermore, having an AI chatbot tackle the ordering process frees up employees to focus on other areas of the restaurant, such as food preparation and ensuring a pleasant dining atmosphere. This, in my opinion, could lead to a better overall experience for the customer.
catchnear4321 4y ago
didn’t realize there was such a strong need for using and recognizing corpo slang like “JBC” while ordering a burger. will it correct you if you say the full three words? > As a Wendy’s AI large menu model, I cannot “super-size” your meal, nor can I comply with your special request for a “round burger.” Our square patties are always fresh, never frozen. Is there anything else I can add to your order? online / app-based ordering is already largely superior to ordering through an agent, human or GPT. but now Wendy’s can say AI a lot and maybe pay some employees less, or at least pay fewer of them.
jleyank 4y ago
Better put up a confirmation screen while AI is processing the order or they're going to have a lot of drive-aways. And it better not "learn" if it works in any town with hackers... As another commenter mentioned, this is a good way to force people into using their app.
- rjh29 4y ago
  I'm not from the US, but they could give priority to app users by making a collection only lane? Which would move faster than the voice ordering lane.
  - easton 4y ago
    I actually just saw one of these a couple days ago at a Dunkin Donuts. I personally wonder if there's much of a point to having a drive-thru to pick up food ordered by app (outside of restaurants that have insane lines, like Chick-Fil-A), since the drive-thru is generally only used when food comes out fast enough anyway that you shouldn't need to leave your car.
  - flutas 4y ago
    > but they could give priority to app users by making a collection only lane Not sure if you've seen it, but the Taco Bell concept restaurant is designed for that. https://www.today.com/food/restaurants/taco-bell-futuristic-drive-thru-rcna32393 https://www.today.com/food/restaurants/taco-bell-futuristic-...
giarc 4y ago
A fast food restaurant in Canada called Freshi used overseas workers to take orders. Customers would walk into the store and a screen would show a live worker in another country. It resulted in quite a bit of backlash since they were outsourcing already low cost jobs to countries with very cheap labour. I wonder if an AI order taker will get the same treatment.
- exhibitapp 4y ago
  It's funny cause there wasn't nearly the backlash when mcdonalds implemented the self-order digital kiosk, which completely eliminated jobs
  - HWR_14 4y ago
    Because at least then then you don't have to deal with upselling, inefficiently speaking, etc. Some people like self-checkout. However, I don't see any advantage to a computer listening to my order and arguing with me (upselling) instead of clicking buttons in 1/10 the time.
    - mytailorisrich 4y ago
      I'd rather be able to say what I want than spending 5 minutes navigating the menu on McDonald's screens (which also try to upsell). I think having both would be the best option.
      - KeplerBoy 4y ago
        Seems to be a no-brainer that these terminals will integrate voice controlled chat options, if they become socially acceptable. I'd argue that the necessary tech has been around for a while now and they probably concluded it's not a good fit.
      - LanceH 4y ago
        They just can't help themselves on the upsell. Every drive-thru that has the monitor where you get to check your order for accuracy eventually starts displaying ads instead -- lowering accuracy and offering something you don't want.
relativeadv 4y ago
There is an Arby's by me that already uses this. I have to say, it works really well.
fnordpiglet 4y ago
I can’t wait for the prompt injection attacks to start.
CodexArcana 4y ago
Boy the slope on fast food workers has turned into a cliff I guess. From Nobodies to Heros to Lazy Teens Who Don't Need A Raise to Robots in like 5 years?
daydream 4y ago
I wonder if they’re implementing the vocabulary customization by sending it in the prompt, or by using a custom-trained model? My guess is the former. There can’t be THAT much customization required, their menu isn’t textbook-length. And the LLM should be able to handle most of it by itself anyways. Seems like they are using Google’s speech recognition API. You can add custom vocabulary to it too. Googles ASR is very good. Will be interesting to see the reception. I bet most people won’t notice or care. EDIT: Wendy’s wins three ways here. It reduces labor cost (despite their protests to the contrary), provides better customer service, AND they probably get higher revenue per car via the consistent upsell.
George83728 4y ago
[flagged]
nickthegreek 4y ago
"the bot has been programmed to upsell" I'm fine with a bot that takes my words and gives me the food I want. However, I would never visit Wendy's again if a robot tried to make me converse with it about things I didn't ask for.
- hospitalJail 4y ago
  >I would never visit Wendy's again if a robot tried to make me converse with it about things I didn't ask for. Modern marketing isnt about 'LOOK FOR 9.99 YOU GET FREE', its more subtle. >"Add a healthy snack" >"Save money when you buy another insert customer history" or worse: >"We are family here" Not to mention, they likely avoid words, show the picture of the delicious item. Marketing is incredibly manipulative, the ones that say "Buy this for $9.99" are incredibly more ethical than the ones that make you feel like you belong at a corporation.
  - mavhc 4y ago
    Mostly it's: save money by paying more for more stuff
- oh_sigh 4y ago
  Is it any different than when a low wage employee asking "would you like to make it a large coke for 25 cents more?"
  - lancesells 4y ago
    Yes. It's a no-wage employee analyzing your voice, feeding it back to the mothership, working in concert with the other no-wage AIs, and doing it's best to manipulate you and everyone else.
    - oh_sigh 4y ago
      This doesn't sound much different from a low wage employee who took a training course on how to upsell customers.
phkahler 4y ago
>> The goal is to streamline the ordering process and prevent long lines in the drive-through lanes from turning customers away, I've been at a few Wendy's with exceptionally slow service. Taking orders was not the bottleneck. It's a good thing automation is going to lower food costs, since nobody will be able to afford food with no jobs.
racl101 4y ago
This will be the one order taker who will not sardonically respond "Sir, this is a Wendy's" when you make a long winded statement evoking a lot of pathos at the drive thru, but rather, will engage you in conversation.
throwawayffffas 4y ago
Do people want voice ordering? I would personally hate it. Just let me order through an app / website or a touchscreen.
- mnky9800n 4y ago
  i mean just let me talk to a person. why does there need to be a technological solution to me asking for a burger. i get it, technology is the basis of all fast food. but its still kind of nice to talk to a person and not a robot.
stolenmerch 4y ago
I'm going to get so fat eating fast food just so I can test out my prompt injection attacks on the Wendy's menu.
- LanceH 4y ago
  I imagine ordering healthy items would have the most seams as it would be the least tested.
nirav72 4y ago
I'm betting people are going to be screaming at the chatbot thinking its a real person on the other end. This gives me the whole Carls Jr vibe from the movie Idiocracy.
m3kw9 4y ago
Man I hope they have prompt injection taken care of with this setup before they put it out

36 points by mfiguiere 4y ago

alphabetting 4y ago

"Are you sentient?" "Sir, this is a Wendy's."

aldarisbm 4y ago
well that was enough hackernews for today

d00d1toldme2p 4y ago

I'll be honest, the idea of having a chatbot take my order doesn't seem all that bad to me. While I understand that human interaction adds a personal touch and can sometimes make the ordering process more enjoyable, I've also had my fair share of experiences where the conversation didn't exactly go smoothly. Miscommunications can lead to order mistakes, and let's not forget about those awkward moments when you can't understand each other or when the background noise is overwhelming. In many cases, I firmly believe that a well-programmed chatbot could actually streamline the ordering process, reducing human errors and saving time for both the customer and the staff. For busy individuals like myself who are often running to grab something to eat in-between meetings or after work, efficiency is key. Furthermore, having an AI chatbot tackle the ordering process frees up employees to focus on other areas of the restaurant, such as food preparation and ensuring a pleasant dining atmosphere. This, in my opinion, could lead to a better overall experience for the customer.

catchnear4321 4y ago

didn’t realize there was such a strong need for using and recognizing corpo slang like “JBC” while ordering a burger. will it correct you if you say the full three words? > As a Wendy’s AI large menu model, I cannot “super-size” your meal, nor can I comply with your special request for a “round burger.” Our square patties are always fresh, never frozen. Is there anything else I can add to your order? online / app-based ordering is already largely superior to ordering through an agent, human or GPT. but now Wendy’s can say AI a lot and maybe pay some employees less, or at least pay fewer of them.

jleyank 4y ago

Better put up a confirmation screen while AI is processing the order or they're going to have a lot of drive-aways. And it better not "learn" if it works in any town with hackers... As another commenter mentioned, this is a good way to force people into using their app.

rjh29 4y ago
I'm not from the US, but they could give priority to app users by making a collection only lane? Which would move faster than the voice ordering lane.
- easton 4y ago
  I actually just saw one of these a couple days ago at a Dunkin Donuts. I personally wonder if there's much of a point to having a drive-thru to pick up food ordered by app (outside of restaurants that have insane lines, like Chick-Fil-A), since the drive-thru is generally only used when food comes out fast enough anyway that you shouldn't need to leave your car.
- flutas 4y ago
  > but they could give priority to app users by making a collection only lane Not sure if you've seen it, but the Taco Bell concept restaurant is designed for that. https://www.today.com/food/restaurants/taco-bell-futuristic-drive-thru-rcna32393 https://www.today.com/food/restaurants/taco-bell-futuristic-...

giarc 4y ago

A fast food restaurant in Canada called Freshi used overseas workers to take orders. Customers would walk into the store and a screen would show a live worker in another country. It resulted in quite a bit of backlash since they were outsourcing already low cost jobs to countries with very cheap labour. I wonder if an AI order taker will get the same treatment.

exhibitapp 4y ago
It's funny cause there wasn't nearly the backlash when mcdonalds implemented the self-order digital kiosk, which completely eliminated jobs
- HWR_14 4y ago
  Because at least then then you don't have to deal with upselling, inefficiently speaking, etc. Some people like self-checkout. However, I don't see any advantage to a computer listening to my order and arguing with me (upselling) instead of clicking buttons in 1/10 the time.
  - mytailorisrich 4y ago
    I'd rather be able to say what I want than spending 5 minutes navigating the menu on McDonald's screens (which also try to upsell). I think having both would be the best option.
    - KeplerBoy 4y ago
      Seems to be a no-brainer that these terminals will integrate voice controlled chat options, if they become socially acceptable. I'd argue that the necessary tech has been around for a while now and they probably concluded it's not a good fit.
    - LanceH 4y ago
      They just can't help themselves on the upsell. Every drive-thru that has the monitor where you get to check your order for accuracy eventually starts displaying ads instead -- lowering accuracy and offering something you don't want.

relativeadv 4y ago

There is an Arby's by me that already uses this. I have to say, it works really well.

fnordpiglet 4y ago

I can’t wait for the prompt injection attacks to start.

CodexArcana 4y ago

Boy the slope on fast food workers has turned into a cliff I guess. From Nobodies to Heros to Lazy Teens Who Don't Need A Raise to Robots in like 5 years?

daydream 4y ago

I wonder if they’re implementing the vocabulary customization by sending it in the prompt, or by using a custom-trained model? My guess is the former. There can’t be THAT much customization required, their menu isn’t textbook-length. And the LLM should be able to handle most of it by itself anyways. Seems like they are using Google’s speech recognition API. You can add custom vocabulary to it too. Googles ASR is very good. Will be interesting to see the reception. I bet most people won’t notice or care. EDIT: Wendy’s wins three ways here. It reduces labor cost (despite their protests to the contrary), provides better customer service, AND they probably get higher revenue per car via the consistent upsell.

George83728 4y ago

[flagged]

nickthegreek 4y ago

"the bot has been programmed to upsell" I'm fine with a bot that takes my words and gives me the food I want. However, I would never visit Wendy's again if a robot tried to make me converse with it about things I didn't ask for.

hospitalJail 4y ago
>I would never visit Wendy's again if a robot tried to make me converse with it about things I didn't ask for. Modern marketing isnt about 'LOOK FOR 9.99 YOU GET FREE', its more subtle. >"Add a healthy snack" >"Save money when you buy another insert customer history" or worse: >"We are family here" Not to mention, they likely avoid words, show the picture of the delicious item. Marketing is incredibly manipulative, the ones that say "Buy this for $9.99" are incredibly more ethical than the ones that make you feel like you belong at a corporation.
- mavhc 4y ago
  Mostly it's: save money by paying more for more stuff
oh_sigh 4y ago
Is it any different than when a low wage employee asking "would you like to make it a large coke for 25 cents more?"
- lancesells 4y ago
  Yes. It's a no-wage employee analyzing your voice, feeding it back to the mothership, working in concert with the other no-wage AIs, and doing it's best to manipulate you and everyone else.
  - oh_sigh 4y ago
    This doesn't sound much different from a low wage employee who took a training course on how to upsell customers.

phkahler 4y ago

>> The goal is to streamline the ordering process and prevent long lines in the drive-through lanes from turning customers away, I've been at a few Wendy's with exceptionally slow service. Taking orders was not the bottleneck. It's a good thing automation is going to lower food costs, since nobody will be able to afford food with no jobs.

racl101 4y ago

This will be the one order taker who will not sardonically respond "Sir, this is a Wendy's" when you make a long winded statement evoking a lot of pathos at the drive thru, but rather, will engage you in conversation.

throwawayffffas 4y ago

Do people want voice ordering? I would personally hate it. Just let me order through an app / website or a touchscreen.

mnky9800n 4y ago
i mean just let me talk to a person. why does there need to be a technological solution to me asking for a burger. i get it, technology is the basis of all fast food. but its still kind of nice to talk to a person and not a robot.

stolenmerch 4y ago

I'm going to get so fat eating fast food just so I can test out my prompt injection attacks on the Wendy's menu.

LanceH 4y ago
I imagine ordering healthy items would have the most seams as it would be the least tested.

nirav72 4y ago

I'm betting people are going to be screaming at the chatbot thinking its a real person on the other end. This gives me the whole Carls Jr vibe from the movie Idiocracy.

m3kw9 4y ago

Man I hope they have prompt injection taken care of with this setup before they put it out