According to an article by Kate Taylor in WIRED magazine, the fast-food industry in the United States is undergoing a quiet but significant revolution with the introduction of AI-powered voice ordering systems in drive-thru lanes. Kristen Charpentier, a customer who pulled into the drive-thru lane of a Dairy Queen in Cary, North Carolina, immediately noticed that something was different about the voice coming from the speaker. The voice was "too nice" to be human, with no communication delays or oddities, politely trying to suggest adding Snickers to her Blizzard ice cream. Charpentier, who had worked the chain's drive-thru herself during her teenage years, asked the employee at the service window if her order had been taken by artificial intelligence, and the employee confirmed her suspicion. She is one of thousands of customers across the US currently experiencing the rapid transition of fast-food chains toward full voice automation.
The Rapid Growth of Voice Agents in Drive-Thru Lanes
The use of AI-powered voice ordering systems is steadily expanding. According to the annual Drive Thru Survey by Intouch Insight, in 2024, approximately 4% of fast-food locations in the US used voice AI technology in their drive-thru lanes. In 2025, this figure rose to 5%, and preliminary research indicates that in 2026, it already reached 6%. For most customers, the first encounter with the system is a surprise that is recorded and shared on social media networks like TikTok and Snapchat, but the technology is quickly becoming part of the daily routine.
At certain chains, AI-powered voice ordering systems are already the new standard. Taco Bell announced last July that it had implemented AI in 890 drive-thru lanes, representing more than 10% of the chain’s US locations. Dairy Queen is rolling out the technology across 25 US states with plans to expand to all of its locations. At White Castle, about 12% of locations use an AI named "Julia" in their drive-thrus, and all new locations of the chain open with "Julia" responsible for taking orders. Sarah Beckett, vice president of sales and marketing at Intouch Insight, explains to WIRED that the brands that have heavily invested in and tested the technology over the past three years have reached a point where the technology is ready, and they are starting to scale its deployment massively.
The Rocky Start and Viral Social Media Failures
The path to automation was not without obstacles. McDonald's sparked the craze in 2019 when it acquired Apprete, a startup developing AI-powered drive-thru systems, and integrated it into a new division called McD Tech Labs. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the surge in demand for drive-thru lanes, other chains rushed to sign partnership agreements: Del Taco and Dairy Queen partnered with Presto, Panda Express and White Castle with SoundHound, and Taco Bell with Nvidia and Omilia. The chains promised in press releases that AI was the future—faster, more accurate, and better at upselling than human employees.
However, reality in 2023 delivered a blow to these companies. TikTok videos exposed amusing and embarrassing failures: one video showed McDonald’s system accidentally adding 260 Chicken McNuggets to an order while the customers screamed, "Stop! Stop!". In another video from 2024, the system added bacon to a McDonald’s ice cream order. Other customers deliberately tried to challenge and break the system, such as a customer who ordered 18,000 cups of water at Taco Bell.
Beyond public mockery, the systems suffered from functional issues. A study by Intouch Insight found that AI-powered drive-thrus tended to be less friendly than human employees and showed lower order accuracy rates. The systems struggled to understand different accents and dialects, a problem that chains had to solve by placing a human employee with a headset ready to intervene at any moment. Michael Schatzberg, co-founder of Branded Hospitality, which invests in food-service technology companies, notes that restaurants found themselves spending more time correcting the problems created by the system than saving time, leading to the decision to bring back human employees with headsets. As a result, his company sold its early investments in this field, Del Taco halted its trial in 2024, and McDonald's sold McD Tech Labs to IBM and eventually discontinued the use of this technology entirely at that time.
The Second Wave and Technological Efficiency
Despite the setbacks, many chains such as Dairy Queen, White Castle, and Taco Bell did not give up and quietly continued to expand their trials. The driver was and remains the fundamental aspiration of the fast-food industry: to speed up the process of serving food while reducing ongoing costs. Jamie Richardson, chief marketing officer of White Castle, which has been in partnership with SoundHound AI for four years, explains that AI-powered voice ordering systems make employee shifts run smoother and speed up service. Intouch Insight data supports this, showing that on average, AI-powered drive-thru lanes are 21 seconds faster than the industry average. Richardson emphasizes that the viral disasters on social media were overblown and that the company focused on incremental improvement of the system, which has improved dramatically over time.
Now, the pendulum is swinging back toward AI adoption. McDonald's announced this summer that it is returning to testing AI-powered ordering, this time in partnership with Google at five US locations, using a system capable of taking orders in English and Spanish. Schatzberg's Branded Hospitality recently partnered with Arc, a voice AI drive-thru company working with chains like Jack's and Pollo Campero. Schatzberg admits that the first version of the systems was a flop, but now, with the evolution of technology and companies, they can solve most of the problems encountered in the past.
Consumer Resistance and the Value of Human Connection
Nevertheless, some customers remain skeptical and concerned. Schereé Reed experienced a sense of bewilderment and confusion when a computerized voice addressed him at a Wendy's location in Virginia. He expected a human employee to intervene, and when he discovered that the robotic voice remained, he began to wonder if his burger would eventually be served to him on a conveyor belt. Reed shared his concern with WIRED that the growing reliance on AI removes basic human connections and the ability to build community.
Some fast-food chains, especially those known for exceptional customer service, share these concerns. Chick-fil-A consistently leads Intouch Insight's friendliness ratings despite its massive lines, and has never hinted at any intention to replace its employees with robots. Coffee chains Dutch Bros and 7Brew, two of the fastest-growing chains in the US, consciously avoid using AI. Nick Chavez, chief marketing officer of 7Brew, wrote to WIRED that for them, hospitality begins with genuine human connection, a value that their guests repeatedly mention as highly important to them.
The Impact on the Job Market and Boosting Chain Profits
Despite concerns about layoffs, chain representatives and existing data suggest that AI is not taking employees' jobs. Most drive-thru employees multitask, and executing a full replacement of cashiers and cooks with robots is a particularly complex task to implement in practice. At White Castle, the number of employees has remained steady throughout the AI rollout period, and Taco Bell recently reported that locations where the voice system was implemented recorded higher employee retention rates, as the system eases the existing workload.
In practice, the main use of these robots by chains is to convince customers to spend more money. An Intouch Insight survey found that AI agents perform suggestive selling and upselling in 71% of cases, compared to an average of only 58% among human employees. The system consistently offers to add a drink or upgrade the meal, thereby increasing the chains' profit margins without creating customer resistance. In addition, in the near future, the systems will be able to take orders in dozens of languages, identify a customer's vehicle as soon as they arrive, and offer personalized recommendations based on their purchase history. For example, the system could calculate that a customer is 78% likely to order dessert on the second Tuesday of every month and offer them a pre-tailored promotion.
Despite the concerns of customers like Reed about the loss of human connection, other customers like Kristen Charpentier see the technology as a major advantage that allows for greater consistency and accuracy than humans. Charpentier, who remembers the difficulties from her teenage work years, concludes that she would have been happy to work alongside an AI-powered colleague. Intouch Insight data corroborates this, showing a surprising 97% satisfaction rate with the technology among customers who have experienced it.