AI is rapidly being rolled out across multiple professions, replacing jobs previously occupied by human beings. Algorithmic counterparts are filling everything from writing jobs to tech positions. Now, McDonald’s is choosing to use an AI-driven drive-thru assistant.
In five selected stores around the US, the new AI has been deployed and tested. According to their post, they have already taken over a million orders using the new technology, with an impressive 90% needing no human intervention.
This is the second time that McDonald’s has rolled out an AI assistant for its drive-thru staff, with the previous model being pulled due to multiple issues that made it less effective than just using a person. They are confident that this time it will be a success.
The burger restaurant has said that they will begin implementing the AI rollout across 5 stores in the coming months, installing the necessary tools for the project. They plan for every McDonald’s in the US to switch to the new system.
Not Just a Chatbot
Meet Archy IQ – no, we are not new to AOT. In fact, we have been in this AI field for about 8 years. We sold our in-house model to IBM and moved on as it wasn’t good enough for our needs.
As mentioned below, I wanted to hire Google (who uses NVIDIA) to service our AOT 3 years… https://t.co/JR8QHQNyKJ pic.twitter.com/e0syxiQwre
— McFranchisee (@McFranchisee) June 3, 2026
The AI model won’t just replace the spoken element of the order, either. It has multi-stage assistance that will help the kitchen do their job more efficiently, hopefully speeding up the order process and ensuring food is fresher for the customers.
The announcement, shared on X, states, “Archy will not only assist drive-thru orders but act as a master brain to help managers run a better restaurant. It’s like a personal assistant that alerts you to potential bottlenecks or issues.”
A smart weight system will weigh an order before it leaves the window to ensure everything is being delivered. Additionally, a geofencing system will be used to alert the kitchen staff to when a customer is approaching so they can have the food ready to go and as fresh as possible.
Not A Warm Welcome
However, the news hasn’t been well received online. Already, Wendy’s has replaced a lot of their drive-thru assistants with AI, and also received backlash for the move. It appears that people are equally unhappy with the burger chain’s decision, too.
Said one hater online: “Just so your company, McDonald’s, and anyone reading this understand: We all hate the system installed at Wendy’s. We hate the kiosks at McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell that we are asked to use instead of talking to a person. We will hate this too. Say goodbye to customers.”
People aren’t very receptive to human-speaking roles being replaced by algorithms. Removing the human element may save a company like McDonald’s money in the long run, but people don’t particularly like the change.