Fast food franchises using AI to track workers

[Introversion]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rashishrivastava/2024/02/23/dozens-of-kfc-taco-bell-and-dairy-queen-franchises-are-using-ai-to-track-workers/?sh=6ea234fb6c11

Like many restaurant owners, Andrew Valkanoff hands out bonuses to employees who’ve done a good job. But at five of his Dairy Queen franchises across North Carolina, those bonuses are determined by AI.


The AI system, called Riley, collects streams of video and audio data to assess workers’ performance, and then assigns bonuses to those who are able to sell more. Valkanoff installed the system, which is developed by Rochester-based surveillance company Hoptix, less than a year ago with the hopes that it would help increase sales at a time when margins were shrinking and food and labor costs were skyrocketing.

Thanks to Riley, he was able to get a 3% uptick in sales, Valkanoff said. “Every nickel right now in my business matters,” he said.

Riley, installed at about 100 stores across the country including KFC and Taco Bell franchisees, ingests data including workers’ conversations with customers, and uses AI to detect whether and how often employees have tried to “upsell” (offered add ons or extra toppings), “upsize” (offered a larger size) or tried to sign a customer up for a loyalty program. Employees who make the most suggestions and whose suggestions get converted into sales receive cash bonuses based on a scorecard generated by Hoptix's AI system. The software also tracks how quickly meals are prepared (what are the busiest times at a store and what causes long lines at drive-through) as well as how much food is wasted.

Frankly I really dislike being “upsold”. I’m here to order what I want, I don’t need anyone to second-guess my choices. But that’s a minor annoyance. What workers experience from these “tools” sucks.

Some experts are concerned that these kinds of AI tools can be used as an excuse to hold workers to unfair productivity standards. “A lot of times what gets called productivity issues, especially in fast-food contexts, are often a result of severe understaffing,” Alexandra Mateescu, a researcher at nonprofit research group Data and Society told Forbes. “There's a concern that such surveillance is going to further squeeze workers in a context where there's hardly anything left to squeeze.”

That hasn’t stopped the fast-food industry from wholeheartedly embracing AI-based surveillance tools that record and judge workers’ efficiency. In 2019, Domino’s rolled out the DOM Pizza Checker across all its stores in Australia and New Zealand. The checker was an overhead camera programmed with AI and machine learning that scanned millions of pizzas to ensure workers had added the correct toppings and distributed them evenly. Outback Steakhouse, a chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, has also used artificial intelligence to monitor how fast its food is served and how frequently a server tends to tables. Fast food chains have adopted other less technical ways of gauging employees’ performance too, like ratings from customers that then dictate which and how many shifts workers are assigned and can even get them fired.

 

[SWest]

Ew. Fortunately, these are all store chains with franchises where I live. Who are now going to enjoy my opinions on the subject...

 

[Stytch]

I order Papa John's a lot, and the calls are all handled by some call center probably not in my county, and the RELENTLESS attempts to upsell are so bad. I say, I only want X, I do not want any other items, please do not ask me with each sentence if I'd also like to add anything or change my order.

I doesn't matter. "Yes, thank you, would you like to add a drink to your order?"

It's infuriating. If I'm in a bad enough mood I've calmly said "the following is for the people who listen to these recordings. Do you understand how annoying this is? Please stop making your employees do this, it's demeaning and poor management."

I know I'm just venting spleen, but I really hate having to fend off attempts to change my order with every breath.

ETA: I included my suspicions on the call center's location because I feel like part of the disconnect is that the person taking the call doesn't really parse English enough beyond the basics of how to take the order. If they did, maybe they'd drop the script, or acknowledge my request in any way. But no. They just follow the script.

 

[lizmonster]

We really need more unions.

 

[CMBright]

I order Papa John's a lot, and the calls are all handled by some call center probably not in my county, and the RELENTLESS attempts to upsell are so bad. I say, I only want X, I do not want any other items, please do not ask me with each sentence if I'd also like to add anything or change my order.

I doesn't matter. "Yes, thank you, would you like to add a drink to your order?"

It's infuriating. If I'm in a bad enough mood I've calmly said "the following is for the people who listen to these recordings. Do you understand how annoying this is? Please stop making your employees do this, it's demeaning and poor management."

I know I'm just venting spleen, but I really hate having to fend off attempts to change my order with every breath.

ETA: I included my suspicions on the call center's location because I feel like part of the disconnect is that the person taking the call doesn't really parse English enough beyond the basics of how to take the order. If they did, maybe they'd drop the script, or acknowledge my request in any way. But no. They just follow the script.

I dislike the upselling, I can't remember it being that bad but I use drive-thru or go in rather than phone orders. But I'd rather have the worker ask "Is there anything else?" or some iteration after each subset of my order than try to give me a total before I've finished the order. I've had that happen occasionally.

 

[Maryn]

Can one order online or at an in-store device and pick it up at the various fast food franchises? (I don't do fast food, which does not make be a better person than those who do. Just a personal choice.) There's still upselling, no doubt, but it's easier to close the pop-up.

Maryn, who does Panera that way

 

[Maggie Maxwell]

Can one order online or at an in-store device and pick it up at the various fast food franchises? (I don't do fast food, which does not make be a better person than those who do. Just a personal choice.) There's still upselling, no doubt, but it's easier to close the pop-up.

Maryn, who does Panera that way

Some stores have kiosks for ordering if you don't want to wait in a line/the front counter people are preoccupied/you don't want to interact with anyone. Some have apps that you can order, park, and get your food with minimal interaction. Of course these kinds of places are looking every which way for methods that allow them to work with fewer staff so they can line their own pockets more, and technology gives them that in a dozen different ways.

 

[Meg]

This reminds me of what happened in the American South after the invention of the cotton gin. Field labor became the bottleneck, and plantation owners used increasingly brutal strategies to keep raising the expected amount of cotton picked per day higher and higher.

 

[Maggie Maxwell]

From Food & Wine: Fast food franchises are also introducing "dynamic pricing" AI for upselling

https://www.foodandwine.com/wendys-introducing-dynamic-pricing-8600506

Tanner stated, “Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and daypart offerings along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling.”

In case that sounds like a load of corporate jargon, let us break it down: Dynamic pricing, as defined by our friends at Investopedia, allows companies to set variable pricing that can fluctuate up and down throughout the day, depending on demand. For example, if you’ve ever seen “surge pricing” on your Uber app, this is dynamic pricing.
...
This means a Wendy’s burger may sell at a higher price point during a busy lunch rush, then come down in price during an afternoon lull, and go back up again at dinner time.

 

[CMBright]

From Food & Wine: Fast food franchises are also introducing "dynamic pricing" AI for upselling

https://www.foodandwine.com/wendys-introducing-dynamic-pricing-8600506

If I find out a place is doing that, I'm not going there. I don't care that I'd go during the cheap rates at 3 in the afternoon because I'm not outgoing. Which is depressing cause I like Wendy's.

No. Just no.