McDonald’s Testing Drive-Thru A.I.
McDonald's has just placed a $300 million drive-thru order.
Specifically, the fast food giant has spent $300 million to buy A.I. startup Dynamic Yield, according to Engadget, as Mickey D's planning to bring the drive-thru lane into the future.
According to the tech blog, the machine learning that Dynamic Yield specializes in could create "thinking" menus, which adapt to elements like outside temperature, and even line length. The digital menus could, for example, change to suggest a McFlurry or other ice cream items on hot days, or simpler menu items to speed a drive-thru traffic along.
There's also the possibility that McDonald's could read your license plate, and customize the menu based on your previous orders to speed up the process during your next visit.
The A.I. was tested in a pilot program, and will be rolled out to all 14,000 restaurants that have drive-thrus. The McDonald's self-serve kiosks will also get a brain boost from the machine learning tech.