McDONALD'S FIRES ROBOT CASHIER FOR BEING ONLY 80% SMART
What actually happened: McDonald's ends its AI drive-thru ordering test with IBM
IDIOCRACY LEVEL: 6/10
McDonald's said in June 2024 that it would end its automated order-taking test with IBM, which had run in about 100 restaurants since 2021. An analyst report had put the system's accuracy in the low 80% range, short of the chain's 95% target, and its mistakes had become TikTok content.
Breaking news from the Fast Food Wars archive: McDonald's has retired its talking drive-thru computer after about two and a half years of service. The machine took orders correctly roughly eight times out of ten, which by today's standards would qualify it for the Cabinet. Customers filmed its mix-ups and posted them for entertainment, much like a certain popular program about a man and his groin. McDonald's says voice ordering remains in its future, so please continue speaking slowly and clearly into the box.