As businesses embrace artificial intelligence as a way of improving operational efficiency, one fast-food joint is putting its foot down.
Chick-fil-A will not be among those integrating AI into its drive-thru process, CEO Andrew Cathy explained to CNBC. They will continue to rely on human interaction while exploring other ways in which to utilize the ever-evolving technology.
“From our experience, we really want that hospitality to be human to human. We’re not going to substitute that interaction with technology, because we feel like that hospitality is so important to create that warm environment for consumers,” he said.
“We think about all these new things into the future, about how will people want to receive food in the future? As you think about drone delivery and all the other kind of things that could be coming, it’s a fun time in the industry, to think about all the possibilities of what we can do to make a better experience for our guests,” he added.
According to Fox Business, this puts the restaurant in a minority as its peers embrace automated ordering processes. Many find that cutting out the human element and putting the power of ordering completely in the hands of customers increases “speed, accuracy and consistency.”
“McDonald’s said at its investor day last month that it plans to test ‘Archy,’ its voice AI technology, to take orders in English and Spanish,” the outlet reported. “Wendy’s, meanwhile, has been deploying its FreshAi drive-thru technology, developed with Google Cloud. The company has said the system is designed to improve ordering speed, accuracy and consistency.”
However, just because you will have to order your food the old-fashioned way doesn’t mean that Chick-fil-A is completely shunning the technology or shying away from its potential benefits.
“When it unveiled plans for new digitally focused restaurant designs in 2023, Chick-fil-A said it wanted to use technology to ‘elevate the human touchpoints’ in its restaurants while keeping human interaction at the core of the customer experience,” Fox Business recalled, pointing to a McDonough, Georgia, location that opened in 2024.
“The location features four drive-thru lanes underneath an elevated kitchen and uses a conveyor system that Chick-fil-A says can deliver a meal to an employee every six seconds. The design can accommodate two to three times as many vehicles as a traditional Chick-fil-A drive-thru, according to the company. Customers can order ahead digitally or place their order with a Chick-fil-A employee,” the outlet explains.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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