Burger King under fire over ‘dystopian’ new AI technology trial in restaurants
Burger King fans have been left feeling like they’re living in an episode of Black Mirror, after learning about a new technology the chain is currently testing.
Restaurant Brands International, the owner of Burger King, confirmed this week that it’s trialling an OpenAI-powered chatbot inside headsets across 500 restaurants in the US, with a plan to later roll it out nationwide.
The AI chatbot, known as ‘Patty’, can talk to employees through the headsets, and is intended to be a ‘coaching tool’, according to Thibault Roux, Burger King’s chief digital officer in the US and Canada.
Patty will combine data across several aspects of the business, including drive-thru conversations, stock levels, and kitchen equipment. Staff will be able to ask the chatbot questions, such as how to make burgers and for instructions on cleaning equipment like the milkshake machine.
It is also being trained to ‘measure friendliness’ by recognising certain words such as ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘welcome to Burger King’ and the chain is said to be looking into ‘capturing the tone of conversations’ too, according to The Verge.
Other functions include the ability to alert employees to issues, such as a drinks machine being low on Coca-Cola, and flagging issues that customers have reported, such as messy toilets.
And as Patty is Integrated with Burger King’s cloud-based point-of-sale system, it can completely remove a product that’s not available from all digital menus and kiosks within 15 minutes, to avoid customer disappointment.
Roux claims the technology is something Burger King is ‘tinkering with’ but acknowledges it’s a ‘risky bet’, as it’s not something ‘every guest is ready for’.
And he’s certainly not wrong.
On social media there’s been quite a lot of backlash to the trial already, with Facebook users branding it ‘dystopian’, comparing it to something out of a ‘Black Mirror’ episode, and claiming it’s made them feel as if they are ‘living in hell’.
Following this, Burger King has reiterated that Patty is intended as a ‘coaching tool’ and not a way for the company to ‘track or evaluate staff saying specific words or phrases’.
A spokesperson for the company told The Grocer: ‘BK Assistant is a coaching and operational support tool built to help our restaurant teams manage complexity and stay focused on delivering a great guest experience.
‘It’s not about scoring individuals or enforcing scripts. It’s about reinforcing great hospitality and giving managers helpful, real-time insights so they can recognise their teams more effectively.’
It has not yet been confirmed whether Burger King UK could start utilising this technology. Metro has contacted the fast food chain for further comment.
Taco Bell and McDonald’s both previously introduced AI into their drive-thrus in the US.
Neither trial has proved overly successful, with McDonald’s removing AI-powered voice ordering from more than 100 locations in July 2024 after several errors were made. This included customers being given multiple unwanted items and some unusual orders like bacon on ice cream.
Taco Bell first introduced AI to 500 drive-thrus in 2023, but has since reportedly slowed down the US-wide rollout of the technology, after experiencing similar issues.
Customers have complained on social media about mistakes and glitches with the tech, while others have tried to prank it, with one person notably trying to see what would happen if they ordered 18,000 cups of water.
Spoiler alert: It did not end well – the system crashed.
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