The Chatbot Comes to the Drive-Through. ‘It’s a Pain In the Butt.’

Restaurant executives say Julia, as White Castle’s system is called, and its chatbot colleagues can make their restaurants more efficient and free up often-scarce workers to do other jobs. The jury is still out with customers. 

“It’s a pain in the butt,” said Lewis, after collecting his order. 

It has been predicted that artificial intelligence will revolutionize computer programming, enable widespread cheating among college students and possibly even destroy the human race. For now, AI chatbots are still learning the art of taking orders for burgers and fries. 

Across 10 orders at the Indiana White Castle on a recent day, three customers asked to talk to a human attendant after conversing with Julia, either because they preferred human interaction or because Julia misheard orders. One woman was peeved that her jalapeño slider order hadn’t come out correctly. Others shouted repeatedly that they accepted the terms and conditions of ordering through a robot, though they otherwise ordered without incident. 

White Castle Vice President Jamie Richardson said some customers have a love-hate relationship with Julia, and that the company is listening to feedback and investing to make the system better.

Besides White Castle, , Wendy’s and Dunkin’ are all testing AI-driven chatbots in drive-throughs. The bots “talk” through drive-through speakers, with the order tally popping up on a screen for customers to review. Workers on headsets listen in, ready to intervene if things go awry.

The robots, which employ conservational-style AI algorithms used by technologies such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, can take burger orders, substitute cheddar for American cheese and thank customers for their patronage. 

They also are programmed to encourage customers to binge on an extra burger or a dessert. Unlike a human, chatbots are never shy about selling more, nor do they need a break or get distracted by other business, said Michael Guinan, White Castle’s vice president of operations services.

Some customers say they are sick of cranky fast-food workers who can’t hear their orders through defective speaker boxes, and look forward to the robot revolution. A number of restaurant workers agree. 

“Just having that relief of not having to communicate with the customer would be awesome,” said Derrick Bower, a 38-year-old Panera Bread worker who has gladly ordered from chatbots at McDonald’s and Checkers Drive-In Restaurants.

“Maybe something nice with sugar and spice like a peppermint milkshake?” said the Santa-bot in a Presto demo video filmed at a drive-through. 

The customer ignored the suggestion. “That is fine actually, but I need to change the cheeseburger,” she replied. 

“Sure, I’ll get the elves on that,” the Santa-bot said.

Cayla Rucker was relieved to encounter a human dispensing her hot dog and soda at a Checkers drive-through window in North Lauderdale, Fla., after she ordered through a chatbot. Restaurants, she said, ought to post warning signs to mitigate the shock. 

”The robot asked me what would you like to order,” said Rucker, 21, a part-time Marriott International worker. “And I was like, ‘Is that a robot?’ They should make it more personable. It had no name.”

Presto, which made the robot, said its surveys show most consumers are happy with the experience.

At the Merrillville White Castle one morning, Julia was trying to get drive-through customers to add drinks or extra sliders to their orders. It scored one extra sale during a half-hour stretch. 

Customer Michelle Collins said the chatbot correctly rang up her order for fries, chicken rings and mozzarella cheese sticks with marinara, but the experience left her cold. “It’s just so weird,” she said. “I’m used to talking to somebody.”

White Castle’s Guinan praised Julia’s manners. “She greets you right away,” he said. “It’s always the same experience of being polite and courteous.”

Wendy’s worker Heather Magnus, 42, said she could appreciate Julia. She had been bagging orders at her own restaurant since 6:30 a.m. and was picking up some White Castle sliders after a long day. Her Wendy’s location had experimented with an automated greeting at its drive-through, using a recording of Magnus’s voice to encourage diners to add a lemonade to their order.

“I told my boss I’m tired of hearing my voice, can we switch it up?” she said.  

T-Mobile general manager Kris Hudspeth, 41, said he worried Julia would take jobs from humans, but that he couldn’t deny its speed and friendly manner compared with what he has experienced from some live attendants. “Sometimes it’s horrendous,” said Hudspeth, collecting cheeseburgers and a Coke before work. 

Drive-through chatbot creators are debating just how human to make their attendants’ speech. Too lifelike could scare customers, while too robotic isn’t engaging enough. 

White Castle has retooled Julia since first putting it to work in 2020, and it now sounds more conversational, saying things like “you betcha” and “gotcha,” Guinan said.  

Del Taco is testing its own chatbot, also named Julia, at five locations. Executives said that programmers are teaching it to not be thrown off by the weird orders the California-based chain’s drive-throughs occasionally encounter late at night. 

“The employees will step in when that guest has a really crazy request, like ‘I want large fries inside of a chocolate shake,’ ” said Del Taco President Chad Gretzema. “They know that the AI is going to go, ‘I’m not quite sure what that is.’ ”

Write to Heather Haddon at [email protected]

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