{"id":123931,"date":"2026-07-30T07:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T07:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/123931\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T07:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T07:24:12","slug":"fast-food-execs-keep-pushing-for-ai-but-fail-to-see-the-big-picture-customers-still-want-humans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/123931\/","title":{"rendered":"Fast-food execs keep pushing for AI, but fail to see the big picture: Customers still want humans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fast-food chains have spent the past several years racing to automate everything from drive-through ordering to burger flipping<\/a> using AI.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s and Wendy\u2019s have continued to experiment with AI ordering systems, forcing restaurants to answer more fundamental questions than whether robots can make fries or take orders. With the introduction<\/a> of ArchIQ by McDonald\u2019s earlier this year as part of its new initiative<\/a> \u201cMcDonald\u2019s > NEXT,\u201d the fast-food giant is introducing AI-powered chatbots at its drive-through locations.<\/p>\n

Wendy\u2019s has also implemented AI-powered drive-through systems since 2023, under its FreshAI program. In its 2026 first quarter earnings report<\/a>, Wendy\u2019s CFO Ken Cook said he wants to continue developing the digital experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are continuing to invest in the end-to-end digital experience, leveraging consumer insights to drive frequency and engagement in the app,\u201d he said in the conference call, \u201cwhile expanding payment options at checkout to create a more seamless experience and improve conversion.\u201d<\/p>\n

But customers aren\u2019t embracing the machines nearly as quickly as restaurants are deploying them.<\/p>\n

Recent customer surveys<\/a> show Americans continue to overwhelmingly prefer ordering from human employees rather than AI-powered drive-through assistants or digital kiosks<\/a>, highlighting a growing disconnect between how restaurant executives define efficiency and what consumers actually value.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe assumption is there\u2019s a task, the computer can do it, therefore the person doesn\u2019t,\u201d Jerry Jacobs, a Wharton professor of sociology and management, told Fortune. \u201cThat\u2019s one possible way of implementing it. It\u2019s not the only way.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s and Wendy\u2019s did not immediately respond to Fortune\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

Why fast-food consumers aren\u2019t all in on AI<\/p>\n

For many consumers, ordering food is still a social interaction, even if it lasts less than a minute. Jacobs cautions against romanticizing customer service, however, saying employees make mistakes, become fatigued, and frequently operate under rigid corporate scripts that can limit what they do for customers.<\/p>\n

Still, he argues restaurants shouldn\u2019t assume automation will require eliminating workers and reducing labor costs. Instead, AI could handle repetitive ordering while employees shift toward hospitality-focused roles like greeting customers, answering questions, and resolving issues that machines struggle to address.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can use this as a means of making it a more satisfying customer encounter,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t automatically assume robots equal a subtraction of an equal number of human employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent research from advisory firm<\/a> Metrigy found about 80% of consumers preferred speaking with human order takers versus AI agents, highlighting the distinction between workplace efficiency and customer preference.<\/p>\n

Layne Haaksma, senior research analyst at Metrigy, found that companies often overestimate consumers\u2019 ability to accept AI system implementation. According to the company\u2019s data, only about 22% of consumers say they prefer interacting with AI agents, even though businesses believe it is roughly 40%, Haaksma told Fortune .<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest takeaway is there\u2019s a significant gap between how fast companies are moving on AI and how ready consumers are,\u201d Haaksma said. \u201cBusinesses think customers prefer AI much more than they actually do.\u201d<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t to say AI will never be more accepted by the general public. Data from Metrigy reports show customer preference toward AI agent chatbots grew more than four percentage points from Q1 2026 to Q2 2026. The question is not if consumers will prefer AI chatbots, it\u2019s when.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been enough time from AI\u2019s introduction into where we are now, for consumers to actually have that trust in using it,\u201d Haaksma said. \u201cAI still messes up quite a bit\u2026 those mistakes really stick with consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacobs also resonates with that message. He said technology will always become a way to benefit human quality-of-life, and that includes for consumers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people side isn\u2019t perfect,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cBut we shouldn\u2019t assume all customer interactions with people are 100% what we\u2019d like them to be\u2014or that replacing them automatically improves the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fast-food chains have spent the past several years racing to automate everything from drive-through ordering to burger flipping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,405,25,5327,7135,36394,2987,36396],"class_list":["post-123931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-ai-agents","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-consumers","tag-customer-service","tag-mcdonalds","tag-restaurants","tag-wendys"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}