Chick-fil-A's chief executive rules out AI drive-thru ordering while McDonald's and Wendy's push voice AI

Chick-fil-A will not use AI to take drive-thru orders, its chief executive Andrew Cathy said in an interview with CNBC, Fox Business reported on Sunday 4 October.

“From our experience, we really want that hospitality to be human to human. We're not going to substitute that interaction with technology, because we feel like that hospitality is so important to create that warm environment for consumers,” Cathy said, as Fox Business quotes him.

Fox sets this against the chain's rivals. It reports that McDonald's said at its investor day last month that it plans to test “Archy”, its voice AI, to take orders in English and Spanish, and that Wendy's has been rolling out FreshAi, a drive-thru ordering system built with Google Cloud.

Chick-fil-A is not turning away from technology altogether. Fox recalls that in 2023 the chain said it wanted technology to “elevate the human touchpoints”, using it behind the counter rather than in place of staff.

Voice agents in drive-thrus are one of the most visible places customers meet AI. A large chain choosing to keep people on the speaker, and saying so, gives the industry a test case: if its service scores hold up against rivals that automate, other chains will notice. The CNBC interview itself was not opened from here.

• Reported Cathy told CNBC Chick-fil-A will not substitute the drive-thru interaction with technology. Fox Business, citing CNBC
• Reported McDonald's plans to test its “Archy” voice AI for orders; Wendy's FreshAi was built with Google Cloud. Fox Business