McDonald’s teams up with Google to bring AI to thousands of stores by 2024

Photo: McDonald's

McDonald’s and Google are teaming up to bring generative AI to thousands of stores by 2024. The fast-food giant will use artificial intelligence to analyze huge amounts of data and improve its operations. One of the benefits, according to McDonald’s, will be “hotter, fresher food” for customers. How exactly will AI achieve that? It’s not very clear, but it seems to imply more automation at the drive-through.

The fast food chain doesn’t reveal much about how AI will be used, but it says it will involve hardware and software upgrades in "thousands" of stores and Google Cloud services. The new system will help managers solve problems and avoid disruptions faster.

McDonald’s also avoids the issue of AI taking over human jobs, saying only that the system will make things easier for the staff and create new experiences for them and the customers. Wendy’s, another Google Cloud AI client, said something similar when it tested AI ordering earlier this year. But that was only in one store in Ohio, so it’s too early to tell how that trial is working out.

Still, there’s a hint of “robots replacing humans” in the air. The AI initiative comes with a new operating system to connect the McDonald’s app and the kiosks. McDonald’s says the changes will lead to better tests and solutions to boost its operations.

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