The Current Status of Artificial Intelligence for Restaurants

Two headlines last week capture the polarizing opinion of AI – “McDonald’s to end AI drive thru experiment after errant orders” & written on the same day, “White Castle uses drive-thru AI that claims to be more accurate than humans” While the last few years have inspired what the future of restaurants will look like, they have also revealed Artificial Intelligence’s current limitations. Ai requires data, has no emotions, and at times can struggle with the nuances of human beings, especially within a service environment.

AI is successful when it saves the restaurant time, streamlines operations, and is hospitality-friendly.

Smarter Scheduling/Inventory

Scheduling can be one of the messiest parts of any restaurant manager’s job. One area AI really helps, is being able to track sales characteristics  to determine any patterns when a restaurant is busy vs. when it isn’t, and appropriately recommend scheduling based on that data. This is a noticeable improvement over the “same schedule every week” situation that exists in many restaurant operations.

Content Creation/Automated Marketing

AI can also provide options to create and automate content for your restaurant. You can use ChatGPT and prompt it to write a post for social media and it will generate a caption for you. Ask it to make you five different options, or have it regenerate responses until you land somewhere you like. It also can be prompted to improve keyword friendliness, to assist in better SEO and more traffic to the website. Be sure to proofread closely any copy generated by AI for accuracy as it can often “go astay” in its attempts to create the ideal content.

Personalization 

Treating each customer as an individual is a critical new element in improving guest satisfaction, and AI is now enhancing this process more accurately than ever. By examining large volumes of data, AI can construct detailed guest profiles, comprehending preferences, behaviors, and past orders. This allows restaurants to present personalized recommendations, such as vegan options, and individualized promotions. AI works best when asked to create these recommendations on a “closed” data set, meaning your organization’s interanally-collected information. Allowing AI to search the Web for external data on your guests can often lead to strange results.

Cost remains as major deterrent towards adopting artificial intelligence within restaurants

According to the 2024 Restaurant Technology Landscape Report published by the National Restaurant Association, 16% of restaurants plan to devote resources to artificial intelligence  integration ((including voice recognition) in 2024. As seen in the case of McDonald’s AI drive thru tests, if AI is inaccurate often enough that it requires human oversight, then the technology isn’t providing the level of service expected within a hospitality and foodservice environment – and that hurts the operators bottom line.

Conclusion

As the restaurant sector settles into a period of more thoughtful technology adoption, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a key element in certain areas, offering personalized recommendations and improving operational efficiency. The basic principle is where AI can save managers and employees time while still maintaining the highest level of service for customers. If it’s missing the latter, then it’s adoption within the restaurant industry will be delayed. 

Looking for the best way to navigate new technology and improve operations? ConStrata can help! Schedule time with our of consultants here.