Burger King: Artificial intelligence to check staff politeness, use of please, thank you; see how the AI chatbot works

Burger King is introducing an artificial intelligence chatbot called “Patty” to help its restaurant employees. It is part of a larger system called BK Assistant. The AI assistant is currently being tested in about 500 restaurants.

Patty will help workers with tasks like preparing meals and answering work-related questions. The chatbot will work through the headsets that staff already use.

The AI assistant will also analyse how employees interact with customers. It will look for polite words and phrases such as “welcome to Burger King”, “please” and “thank you”. Managers can ask the system how their outlet is performing in terms of friendliness.

According to the company, this tool is not intended to punish employees. It is meant to coach and improve service quality.

Burger King’s AI assistant “Patty” is powered by OpenAI. This platform connects different parts of the restaurant’s operations. It includes drive-thru conversations, kitchen machines, inventory and billing systems.

Employees can ask Patty practical questions while working. For example, they can ask how many bacon strips to add to a Maple Bourbon BBQ Whopper.

They may also ask the chatbot how to properly clean the shake machine. This helps staff get quick answers without stopping work.

The AI is also linked to Burger King’s cloud-based billing system. If a machine breaks down or an item goes out of stock, managers are alerted immediately.

The system updates everything automatically in a short period. So, customers do not see unavailable items.

“Within 15 minutes, the entire ecosystem will remove it from stock — whether you’re walking into a restaurant to order from the kiosk, whether you’re going to the drive-thru, the digital menu board will be updated,” Chief Digital Officer Thibault Roux told The Verge.

While Burger King is adding an AI chatbot to employee headsets, it is not fully ready to roll out AI-powered drive-thrus across all locations. Other fast-food chains, like McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Taco Bell, have already tested similar systems.

Burger King AI assistant: It’s still an experiment

According to Roux, the company is still experimenting with AI drive-thrus and considers it a risky step. He admitted that not every customer would be comfortable interacting with AI while placing orders. At present, Burger King is testing AI drive-thru technology in fewer than 100 restaurants.

“We’re tinkering with it, we’re playing around with it, but it’s still a risky bet. Not every guest is ready for this,” Roux said.

However, the company plans to launch its full BK Assistant web and app platform across all US outlets by the end of 2026.