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Incident 475: McDonald's Reportedly Ends IBM Partnership After AI Drive-Thru Ordering Errors at U.S. Locations

Responded
Description: Between 2021 and mid-2024, McDonald's reportedly piloted an AI-enabled voice ordering system that was developed with IBM and based on its 2019 acquisition of Apprente. It was reportedly deployed at at over 100 U.S. drive-thrus. Social media posts alleged frequent misorders, such as adding unwanted items, mixing adjacent lane orders, and ignoring corrections. In June 2024, McDonald's confirmed it ended the IBM pilot, citing plans to explore alternative voice-AI vendors.

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Entities

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Alleged: IBM developed an AI system deployed by McDonald's, which harmed McDonald's customers.
Alleged implicated AI system: McDonald’s Automated Order Taking (AOT) voice AI system

Incident Stats

Incident ID
475
Report Count
6
Incident Date
2021-06-02
Editors
Janet Schwartz, Daniel Atherton
Applied Taxonomies
MIT

MIT Taxonomy Classifications

Machine-Classified
Taxonomy Details

Risk Subdomain

A further 23 subdomains create an accessible and understandable classification of hazards and harms associated with AI
 

7.3. Lack of capability or robustness

Risk Domain

The Domain Taxonomy of AI Risks classifies risks into seven AI risk domains: (1) Discrimination & toxicity, (2) Privacy & security, (3) Misinformation, (4) Malicious actors & misuse, (5) Human-computer interaction, (6) Socioeconomic & environmental harms, and (7) AI system safety, failures & limitations.
 
  1. AI system safety, failures, and limitations

Entity

Which, if any, entity is presented as the main cause of the risk
 

AI

Timing

The stage in the AI lifecycle at which the risk is presented as occurring
 

Post-deployment

Intent

Whether the risk is presented as occurring as an expected or unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
 

Unintentional

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

Incident Occurrence+3
TikTokers are roasting McDonald's hilarious drive-thru AI order fails — and it shows that robots won't take over restaurants any time soon
+1
Bacon ice cream and nugget overload sees misfiring McDonald's AI withdrawn
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TikTokers are roasting McDonald's hilarious drive-thru AI order fails — and it shows that robots won't take over restaurants any time soon

TikTokers are roasting McDonald's hilarious drive-thru AI order fails — and it shows that robots won't take over restaurants any time soon

businessinsider.com

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'This is exactly why a person should take your order': Customer says McDonald's AI accidentally added 9 sweet teas to her order

'This is exactly why a person should take your order': Customer says McDonald's AI accidentally added 9 sweet teas to her order

dailydot.com

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TikTokers are not lovin’ McDonald’s new AI-powered drive-thru

TikTokers are not lovin’ McDonald’s new AI-powered drive-thru

today.com

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McDonald's drive-thru robot made a mistake. Then it all got ridiculous

McDonald's drive-thru robot made a mistake. Then it all got ridiculous

zdnet.com

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Bacon ice cream and nugget overload sees misfiring McDonald's AI withdrawn

Bacon ice cream and nugget overload sees misfiring McDonald's AI withdrawn

bbc.com

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260 McNuggets? McDonald’s Ends A.I. Drive-Through Tests Amid Errors

260 McNuggets? McDonald’s Ends A.I. Drive-Through Tests Amid Errors

nytimes.com

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TikTokers are roasting McDonald's hilarious drive-thru AI order fails — and it shows that robots won't take over restaurants any time soon
businessinsider.com · 2023

Fast-food chains like McDonald's, Sonic, and Chipotle have been experimenting with AI-powered voice bots for taking phone and drive-thru orders for a few years.

But some McDonald's customers on TikTok are expressing frustration – and in som…

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'This is exactly why a person should take your order': Customer says McDonald's AI accidentally added 9 sweet teas to her order
dailydot.com · 2023

Since 2021, McDonald’s has been experimenting with artificial intelligence-powered ordering systems in their drive-thrus.

It’s intended to work as follows: a customer approaches, places their order, and then the AI-powered machine confirms …

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TikTokers are not lovin’ McDonald’s new AI-powered drive-thru
today.com · 2023

McDonald’s has a new AI ordering system and, well, some customers are not lovin’ it.

On Feb. 10, TikTok user Ren Adams (@resinsbiren) posted a video decrying McDonald’s new artificial intelligence technology, which the company has deployed …

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McDonald's drive-thru robot made a mistake. Then it all got ridiculous
zdnet.com · 2023

It's not been a wonderful few weeks for AI.

Both Google and Microsoft presented their new AI-powered chatterboxes and both seemed to make fundamental mistakes.

Yes, in the launch presentations.

Then Microsoft's Bing with ChatGPT took on les…

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Bacon ice cream and nugget overload sees misfiring McDonald's AI withdrawn
bbc.com · 2024

McDonald's is removing artificial intelligence (AI) powered ordering technology from its drive-through restaurants in the US, after customers shared its comical mishaps online.

A trial of the system, which was developed by IBM and uses voic…

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260 McNuggets? McDonald’s Ends A.I. Drive-Through Tests Amid Errors
nytimes.com · 2024
Hank Sanders post-incident response

In the nearly three years since McDonald's announced that it was partnering with IBM to develop a drive-through order taker powered by artificial intelligence, videos popped up on social media showing confused and frustrated customers tryin…

Variants

A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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