Burger King’s new artificial intelligence monitors employees’ politeness in real time

Burger King is testing an artificial intelligence-powered headset system that monitors warehouse inventory, reports operational problems, and even looks for signs of customer friendliness in employees.

Restaurant Brands International, the owner of Burger King, has announced that it has implemented this system based on OpenAI technology in 500 branches in the United States on a trial basis. The assistant, named Patty, speaks directly to employees through a headset and gives them real-time instructions. This action is considered one of the most ambitious experiments of artificial intelligence in the fast food industry this year.

Different tasks of AI Burger King

Patty operates through employee headsets and is connected to store systems. This system helps management and employees in many cases. In the context of inventory management, if a product runs out, Patty notifies the managers. Or if a customer reports a dirty bathroom by scanning a QR code, managers will receive an immediate alert.

Employees can also ask Patty operational questions, such as how to prepare a particular sandwich or cleaning procedures. Employees can also instruct the AI ​​to remove items that have run out of ingredients from digital menus.

However, according to The Verge, the duties of this system do not end with operations. Burger King is testing the Patty as a tool for hospitality education. More specifically, this AI tracks employees’ use of key phrases such as “welcome,” “please,” and “thank you.”

Burger King announced in a statement to the AP news agency:

“Our goal is not to score people or force them to use predetermined texts; Rather, the goal is to enhance hospitality and provide managers with real-time insights so they can better appreciate their teams.”

However, the regulatory aspect of this technology has caused surprise and concern. Company executives have said that they are also working on the “voice tone recognition” feature.

Of course, Burger King is not alone in this direction. Yum Brands (owner of KFC and Pizza Hut) partnered with Nvidia last year to develop artificial intelligence tools, and McDonald’s previously tested an automated ordering system with IBM and is now working with Google.