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Why AI will take over your restaurantWhy AI will take over your restaurant

Learn more in the latest edition of Tech Tracker with Joanna Fantozzi

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

December 22, 2022

 

While 2021 was the year we were introduced to AI voice ordering in the drive-thru lane, 2022 became the year we started seeing the labor-saving technology everywhere. As it turns out, 2023 is likely going to be the year that AI voice technology is improved and perfected. For this month’s Tech Tracker column, Joanna fantozzi spoke with Soundhound about the tech company’s latest audiovisual AI technology for food ordering that more easily understands natural cadences of human speech. The goal? Less friction and frustration in the drive-thru lane as customers struggle to get a robot to understand their lunch order.

As labor continues to be a pain point for the restaurant industry, more operators are investing in AI and automation technology to alleviate some of that stress. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen White Castle, Panera, McDonald’s, Sonic, and more invest in voice ordering AI for the drive-thru to improve speed and efficiency. But the technology still has a long way to go and is imperfect in understanding human dialect, slang and speech cadence.

Learn more from Joanna ahead.

About the Author

Holly Petre

Assistant Digital Editor

Holly Petre is a digital editor for Nation’s Restaurant News as well as the host of NRN’s podcast, Extra Serving, and producer for Informa Restaurant and Food Group’s other three podcasts, One On One by Food Management, Off the Shelf with SN and In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn. Holly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture, fibers and Material Studies and Ceramics from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native New Yorker, Holly enjoys her place on staff as the resident pop-culture expert and millennial with a sassy attitude and great sense of style.

Holly Petre’s work on Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality often covers marketing and trends, either aimed-at or examined-through the millennial mindset. Holly is responsible for introducing TikTok and Twitch to NRN and RH readers as well as explaining terms like “Karen” to staff and readers alike. She also spends her time on staff trying not to make every headline a pun.

Holly Petre hasn’t spoken at any events or on panels, but she is readily available with a killer shoe wardrobe and several witty quips.

 

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