The "news" is not that the computer program got the order wrong, the news is that once again a korporation is using their customers as beta testers for software.
Posted on 08/30/2025 7:27:59 AM PDT by xxqqzz
Taco Bell is rethinking its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to power drive-through restaurants in the US after comical videos of the tech making mistakes were viewed millions of times.
In one clip, a customer seemingly crashed the system by ordering 18,000 water cups, while in another a person got increasingly 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 US, with the aim of reducing mistakes and speeding up orders.
But the AI seems to have served up the complete opposite.
Taco Bell's Chief Digital and Technology Officer Dane Mathews told The Wall Street Journal that deploying the voice AI has had its challenges.
"Sometimes it lets me down, but sometimes it really surprises me," he said.
He said the firm was "learning a lot" - but he would now think carefully about where to use AI going forwards, including not using it at drive-throughs.
In particular, Mr Matthews said, there are times when humans are better placed to take orders, especially when the restaurants get busy.
"We'll help coach teams on when to use voice AI and when it's better to monitor or step in," he said.
The issues have been building online as disgruntled customers take to social media to complain about the service - with many pointing out glitches and issues.
One clip on Instagram, which has been viewed over 21.5 million times, shows a man ordering "a large Mountain Dew" and the AI voice continually replying "and what will you drink with that?".
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
The "news" is not that the computer program got the order wrong, the news is that once again a korporation is using their customers as beta testers for software.
Whenever there’s a kiosk, I go to the s=counter and stand there till someone notices me and takes my order.
The Sam’s Club cafe near me got rid of their cash registers and force you to order with their app.
When I found that out a couple weeks ago, I told the counter person “Costco takes cash” and walked out. Costco is only a few blocks away.
Good thing Cracker Barrel doesn’t have drive-thrus. The Logo changing CO (from Taco Bell) would have miffed that up too.
, a machine mishears “18,000” and tries to fulfill the order ...
while in another a person got increasingly angry as the AI repeatedly asked him to add more drinks to his order
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqwzuiSy9y0
You are fake news, the order taking is done by machine but fulfilled by humans. You fell for it hook, line and sinker, maybe use your brain for once and step away from the fake news media.
Fair enough - it’s funny too, I picked this username decades ago, after doing some AI research in college. It’s always fascinated me.
Stick it.
I wrote many fuzzy logic systems. Instead of just ranking inference system and requirements rules, I’ve built systems based on population and domain probabilities, meaning the “closer to” type of modeling. I went into neural networks with the properties discovery capabilities that AI is now into. That was true multidimensional calculus to discover the fliers in the data.
Taco Bell is disgusting food. That is all.
The local Fazoli's also went to AI drive through. I went thru it about a month ago and talked to a live person. The next time I went through, only a week later, it transitioned to AI. I told them I didn't like it.
I'll never go back to either.
I don’t know anything about AI, really. I guess it takes someone like you to really understand its limitations. I’ve been doing ok without using AI for now.
Indeed no telling what else what was on the tacos you didn’t order.
If a living customer isn’t worth live attention, that business needs to fold.
Normally, I would agree with your statement.
However, after all of the stories we hear about, DAILY, of the low life’s being hired, at many of these fast food restaurants ... the question then becomes .... multiple mistakes by AI bots filling orders...or, employees who either get mad and attempt to harm customers, or, vise versa.
Get lost LIBERAL.
I don't understand the hype about AI, and the huge valuations of some of the companies that are thought to be a little ahead of the curve. But I have found that using AI sites in particular Grok and ChatGPT for finding the answers to technical questions to be superior to using Google and other search engines. One day in the not-too-distant future you will almost inevitably be using AI “helpers”.
A better example than the websites I have put up on a tiny and inexpensive mini-pc... might be something that I just took care of yesterday.
The TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) on my 2012 Ford F-350 has been acting up. What I wanted to know was how to determine which sensors, both used and new were responding correctly to my $10 wireless triggering device and putting out a good signal. I have several OBD2 code readers including two that have a lot of capabilities, but none of them will give me a measurement of the output actually coming from the sensors. The specialized TPMS tools that are capable of doing this are either extremely expensive or will only provide this information from sensors that are the same brand as the tool.
I had heard of inexpensive SDR (Software Defined Receivers) USB dongles that are capable of tuning in to almost any frequency after connecting them to your phone or computer. ChatGPT and Grok not only gave me recommendations they told me how to use them to evaluate my new and used TPMS sensors. If you use Google, you can find out about this use of SDR dongles as well, especially with the AI search feature, but this is an issue which can provide a good comparison between standard searches and the additional help you can get from the most often used AI helpers.
I strongly disagree. They used to be one of the cheapest places you could get a decent meal. We haven't been eating there much recently, but I practically lived on their food when they had their $1 menu items and after that, their impressive value combo meals. My lunches typically cost $5 or less and they were quite tasty to me.
The thing that I appreciate about their food is that much of it is actually prepared in central locations and received in sealed plastic bags that are just reheated at the store and placed in the hard shells or flour tortillas. This creates a very predictable product that the workers do not have many opportunities to mess them up.
I understand that there are many people who do not appreciate food that is prepared this way. To each his/her own...
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