Joining a growing list of fast-food restaurants making dramatic adjustments or additions to their drive-through experience, Panera Bread has started experimenting with something that could prove revolutionary: Drive-through ordering powered by AI technology.
Through a partnership with tech company OpenCity, responsible for the creation of a voice-ordering AI system known as Tori, Panera Bread hopes to make it easier than ever to get your favorite Panera soups, salads, sandwiches, and cookies. As of this writing, the technology is only being tested at two upstate New York locations. Meaning that if you’ve ever dreamed of AI robots taking your fast-food orders, you may have a bit of drive.
Will AI Become the Future of Drive-Through Ordering?
If you really want to experience the possible future of drive-through ordering for yourself, you’ll have to travel to upstate New York. Unless you don’t want Panera, in which case note that OpenCity is currently utilizing this new technology at more than a dozen restaurants around the country. They are even testing Tori out at a Popeye’s location in New Orleans.
Whether or not this becomes a standard at Panera Bread, or extends to other fast-food chains, remains to be seen. The AI-driven service will be combined with human workers, standing by to deal with any potential issues and take money. The hope obviously is that such measures will speed up wait times at the drive-through, addressing an issue of packed lines and other efficiency problems that have been haunting several restaurants since the start of the COVID pandemic.
While this probably won’t herald the coming of Skynet or the War Against the Machines, it’s going to be interesting how AI and other automation endeavors reshape the experience of ordering and picking up food.
