Big restaurant businesses constantly strive to be more efficient, make more money, and provide better customer service.
Some, like Panera, have touch-screen sales kiosks, and many allow customers to buy ahead of time through their mobile apps.
Not all improvements in technology make less automated methods better. The AI-powered speech bots that McDonald's is testing at some drive-thrus seem to be this way.
McDonald's AI bots' funny, annoying, and confusing interactions with customers have gone viral on TikTok.
In a video posted on Feb. 10, TikToker showed how the AI bot added a customer's Diet Coke to her order as they pulled up to another drive-thru lane.
The bot took away the drink when she asked, but then changed her order to nine sweet teas instead of one.
In another TikTok video, a user asks the McDonald's robot to "stop" adding Chicken McNuggets to an order that already costs more than $300.
McDonald's did not respond to questions about customer worries about AI ordering.
McDonald's isn't the only big chain automating its drive-thru. Chick-fil-A tested a mobile-order pickup drive-thru last year. Checkers & Rally's drive-thrus use McDonald's AI voice ordering.