What Taco Bell teaches us about AI
Step 6: How to Succeed in an AI World
Hungry? Not hungry? Doesn’t Matter. Come with me for a minute while we learn some important lessons about living with AI at the Drive-Thru of our neighborhood Taco Bell in East San Jose, California (based on real world experiences).
Ordering with AI
AI: Hi. Thanks for visiting Taco Bell. Do you have a four digit code for earning rewards points?
James: No.
AI: OK. What can I get you?
James: Two chalupa supremes.
AI: All right.
James: One chicken crunchwrap supreme.
AI: Got it.
James: And six hot sauce.
AI: All right. Would you like anything else?
James: No.
AI: It’s Happy Hour right now. Can I get you a medium soft drink for just $1.25?
James: No, thanks.
AI: Did I get your order right on the screen?
James: Yes.
AI: Great. Interested in rounding up 94 cents to help students?
James: Yes.
AI: Thank you. See you at the window.
The Window
Of course, we do not see the upbeat perfect English-speaking AI hostess when we drive up to the window. Instead we meet a friendly bi-lingual real woman who works as the cashier.
The woman smiles, takes my credit card, disappears for a few seconds, and returns with the card, a receipt, and the food.
Because there were no cars behind me in the drive-thru line, I asked the woman (and other cashiers at other times) if she would answer some questions about her working relationship with the AI hostess. I wanted to know if the AI voice at the ordering menu helped or hurt the woman perform her duties. She readily agreed to share her thoughts.
What she said over the next several minutes was incredibly insightful for all of us as we learn to live with AI. But to understand her insights we first have to imagine a different category of customer who often appears at the Drive-Thru menu.
Different Scenario
Imagine a male customer arrives at the Drive-Thru menu and asks his kids in the backseat what they want. “I want a beef burrito, Daddy!” Daddy repeats to the AI, “OK, a beef burrito.” A second child wants a chicken enchilada. Daddy tells the AI, “And a chicken enchilada” As the AI asks what kind of beef burrito and chicken enchilada, regular or supreme, the first child changes his mind. Now he wants an enchilada too, but a beef enchilada. Daddy tells the AI, “Sorry, cancel that beef burrito. Make it a beef enchilada. You do have beef enchiladas, don’t you?”
The cashier at the window wears a special headset/microphone to monitor every customer/AI interaction. She hears the AI voice becoming hopelessly confused and Daddy hasn’t even ordered for himself yet!!
She overrides the AI voice and asks Daddy to start the order over with her.
Because she can flexibly sort out order changes, answer questions about menu items, and provide a reassuring “real world” touch with her imperfect voice, she makes it easier to order for indecisive customers.
Lessons Learned
Taco Bell’s Drive-Thru represents a familiar experiment with AI. Here’s what Taco Bell’s Drive-Thru cashiers have learned because of their experience with AI:
The AI system works well when the customer knows exactly what they want to order. But when people drive up uncertain about what they want, the AI voice gets confused. Changing the order or asking questions about products is particularly perplexing.
The rhythm, pace, and volume of an interaction with AI, not just the content, can cause errors that require human intervention. Hesitations are especially deadly.
AI gets mightily confused when the customer orders while simultaneously talking to someone on their phone.
AI often picks up other voices talking to each other in the car.
AI’s understanding does not include gestures or facial expressions, which can be key to accurate perception in human communication.
For various reasons—intimidation, lack of experience with AI ordering, or simply out of principle, some customers refuse to order until a human voice is heard.
The East San Jose Taco Bell is located in a largely Latino part of town. But the AI here does not speak Spanish, another cause for human intervention. A heavy accent also causes errors.
Despite the limitations, the AI system is considered by the cashiers to be “helpful” in more than half the customer interactions.
Main Take-Aways
To optimize any interaction with AI be well prepared, decisive, and specific about needs. Indecision leads to errors and inefficiency.
Because AI systems are language-based and do not recognize gestures or facial expressions, precise use of language greatly increases chances of getting successful outcomes.
While we may correctly believe that AI sources can facilitate tasks, humans have to monitor the systems to get best results.
AI doesn’t like communications noise—irrelevant or unclear signals.
The window cashier today also made an important point: While AI has intruded into the flow of human-to-human communication, we should not “freak out” about AI either.
Last Thoughts
This post was just about a drive-thru application of AI by Taco Bell. The company uses AI in every part of their business. For instance, the “Rewards Program” the AI mentioned when she greeted me allows the system to document program members’ favorite items. The system then suggests those items as “cravings” when members voice their four digit code when ordering in subsequent visits.
One cashier said he fully expects the food will someday be prepared by AI-driven cooks and handed to the customer through the window by a robot.
Adaptation
Taco Bell’s AI system is being constantly adapted to interact more efficiently with customers and register their favorite foods. It’s a learning experience for the system. Taco Bell’s system broke down months ago when a customer jokingly asked for thousands of an item, for instance. New ordering parameters were quickly integrated into the system to recognize unrealistic orders.
Indeed, like the cashier said, we shouldn’t “freak out” about AI. But we need to adapt to AI in ways that are comfortable and helpful. We should think of AI as a resource we can use to our advantage and on our terms as much as possible. Ordering food at Taco Bell by answering the AI’s questions clearly and precisely is just one example.
This series of Substack posts is designed to help us prepare for the enormous challenges that lie ahead in an AI dominant world. If you haven’t done so already, please read the previous posts. And share the posts with family, friends, and colleagues.
Adapt to Survive and Thrive in any Environment…
The perspective presented in my Substack posts is based on science that explains how communication drives the development of organic life, culture, and technology. Please go to my YouTube channel to learn more about the ways communication functions as the motor of evolution.
Nicely said, and depicted by the Taco Bell example. Thank you for your insightful post James.
Unless AI speaks Weimaraner it will never work for me. Every time I pull up to a drive through fast food place Geist decides to start barking his crazy head off. The poor human taking my order can’t begin to hear me over Geist. I’m pretty sure AI would be very confused. Now I have another reason not to eat at Taco Bell.