Artificial intelligence taking orders at Tampa drive-thru

TAMPA, Fla. - When you pull into the drive-thru at Checkers located on North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa, you'll be greeted by a friendly voice – but you aren't talking to a person. 

"So what's special about this location is that we have an artificial intelligence order taker," said Shana Taylor-Page, the operations services manager for Checkers & Rally's Drive-in restaurants.

This virtual employee is called "Hi Auto."

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"It works just like our regular drive-thru system works. So it greets guests, it takes orders, it sends the orders to the terminal into the kitchen so that they can start making the orders. It'll give the total answer any questions to the guests, and then the guest pulls up to the window and is greeted by a human cashier," said Taylor-Page.

The system also makes suggestions too.

"She really helps with order accuracy, consistency and upselling. So depending on what promotion we're running or what market we're in, she can upsell different items," said Taylor-Page.

Checkers isn't alone. Other fast food chains have also tested out artificial intelligence at their drive-thrus. 

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"It's freeing up our cashiers to be able to compile the orders and focus on other repetitive tasks. So it's really helping with team morale as well", said Taylor-Page.

It's high-tech service with a human touch.

"We think that our guests really like it. It's really cool to pull up and realize that you're speaking to a robot, but you're able to have a complete conversation with her. And I think our guests think that's awesome," said Taylor-Page.