Taco Bell is rethinking its use of artificial intelligence to power drive-thru restaurants after comical videos of the tech making mistakes went viral. In one clip, a customer seemingly crashed the system by ordering 18,000 cups of water, while another person got increasingly more angry as the AI repeatedly asked him to add more drinks to his order. Since 2023, the fast-food chain has introduced the technology at over 500 locations in the U.S., with the aim of reducing mistakes and speeding up orders. It seems the AI has served up the complete opposite. Taco Bell’s Chief Digital and Technology Officer Dane Matthews says there are times when humans are better at taking orders, especially when restaurants get busy. Unlike Cracker Barrel, Taco Bell isn’t backing down just yet. The company says that despite some viral glitches, two million orders have been successfully processed using the voice AI since its introduction.
