Taco Bell Finds Voice AI Still Needs a Human Touch

Taco Bell is reportedly rethinking how it deploys voice artificial intelligence (AI) in its drive-through locations.

After adding the technology to take orders at more than 500 locations, the company found that some customers have complained about glitches in it, felt uncomfortable with it, or played practical jokes on it, like ordering 18,000 cups of water, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (Aug. 28).

Taco Bell Chief Digital and Technology Officer Dane Mathews told the WSJ, per the report, that the company is learning a lot from this deployment, has had good and bad experiences with it, and is now considering which tasks voice AI can handle and which ones require human staff.

“I can tell you it’s a very active conversation inside Taco Bell in partnership with our franchisees,” Mathews said in the report. “I think at the end of the day, it’s really, really early. And we feel that. And I think other brands feel that, too.”

According to the report, McDonald’s ended a voice AI experiment with IBM and is now working on one with Google Cloud; Wendy’s is expanding its use of an AI assistant built with Google technology; and Taco Bell parent company Yum! Brands has been working on voice AI for years and announced a partnership with Nvidia in March.

PYMNTS reported in June 2024 that McDonald’s ended its partnership with IBM to develop an AI-powered drive-through system after two years of testing and was removing the technology from more than 100 restaurants.

A McDonald’s spokesperson told PYMNTS at the time: “Through our partnership with IBM, we have captured many learnings and feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly. After thoughtful review, McDonald’s has decided to end our current global partnership with IBM on AOT beyond this year. IBM remains a trusted partner and we will still utilize many of their products across our global System.”

When Taco Bell began its deployment of AI for order-taking, PYMNTS reported that the company was joining a growing cadre of quick service restaurants, traditional restaurants and delivery services that were testing the technology to streamline the ordering process.