Dairy Queen is bringing artificial intelligence to its drive-thrus.
The 4,115-unit treat chain said Thursday that it will begin using an AI voice system from Presto to handle drive-thru orders in some locations following a successful pilot. The chain has been testing the technology at corporate stores for a few months and is now expanding it to select franchisees in more than 25 states and Canadian provinces.
For the Minneapolis-based chain, the early results of the AI have been “quite promising,” said Kevin Baartman, EVP of IT at Dairy Queen, in a statement. He said Presto has improved order accuracy and provided a friendly experience, while freeing up employees to focus on helping customers.
“We’re committed to delivering an exceptional experience to our fans and our staff, and we believe Presto can help us delight them even more,” Baartman said.
Presto CEO Krishna Gupta said that Dairy Queen was looking for an AI partner that could tackle its complex menu, which has over 1 million order combinations and encompasses both frozen treats and hot food.
“It was very important that someone could handle that complexity in real time,” Gupta said. “And then it opened up a world of possibility that you can expose guests to the food in addition to the treats and vice-versa.”
Dairy Queen is the latest fast-food chain to experiment with AI in the drive-thru as they look to make their biggest sales channel more efficient and sell more food with automatic upsells. Others using it in some capacity include Bojangles, Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s, Taco Bell, Taco Johns and Wendy’s.
The success of that strategy depends who you ask. Restaurant operators say AI is speeding up service and making things easier for staff. And, they say, AI never gets tired or clocks in late. But the bots do make mistakes. And some consumers simply don’t like the idea of AI taking their order.
Gupta acknowledged that challenge, and said his job as a technologist is to convert the doubters with more hospitable, human-like bots. And he believes that more people will accept it as they become more familiar with the technology.
“There’s always gonna be some people who are anti-AI,” he said. “But I expect that as a macro trend, that will shift pretty quickly in our favor.”