From hospitality workers to retail workers, the exaggerated “customer service voice,” often mocked in Internet memes as being completely different from one’s actual voice, has long been a cultural issue. Fast-food giant Burger King is now taking that voice a step further, saying it will use artificial intelligence to detect whether employees are using words like “please” and “thank you.”
On Thursday, Burger King announced it was launching a new AI chatbot connected to employee headsets at hundreds of locations in the U.S. as part of a platform called BK Assistant, powered by OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPIT.
“Patty,” which Burger King is calling its voice-enabled chatbot, will detect if employees are using specific words including “welcome,” “please” and “thank you” when interacting with customers. According to a statement from Burger King, the move is intended to “help managers understand overall service patterns.”
The announcement sparked backlash online, with social media users calling the move “stupid” and “extremely late corporate behaviour”.
By way of clarification, a Burger King spokesperson said: “This is not designed to track or evaluate employees who say specific words or phrases.
“BK Assistant is a coaching and operational support tool designed to help our restaurant teams manage complexity and focus on delivering a great guest experience,” the spokesperson said. “It’s not about scoring individuals or enforcing scripts. It’s about reinforcing great hospitality and giving managers helpful, real-time insights so they can more effectively identify their teams.”
Other functions of the holistic platform supported by artificial intelligence include alerting managers when a product is unavailable from digital menus and automatically removing items from the Burger King app. It will also help employees prepare menu items, such as letting them know which ingredients go into the Whopper after an order is placed. According to a promotional video, “Patty” can also tell workers whether the bathroom at their location needs to be cleaned.
The platform will also listen to employees’ conversations with customers placing drive-thru orders “to boost order accuracy and provide coaching insights.”
The BK Assistant platform will be available in all US locations by the end of 2026. The voice-enabled headset is currently being used in 500 restaurants.
The rollout comes more than a year after McDonald’s ended its artificial intelligence efforts at the drive-thru, removing its automated AI voice that answers customer orders from more than 100 locations.
