Burger King uses AI to measure employee politeness. The fast-food giant announced on Thursday, February 26, the deployment of a new chatbot, “Patty”, directly connected to the headsets of its American employees. Developed by OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT, this AI’s mission is to detect if employees use certain polite phrases in their interactions with customers, such as “welcome,” “please,” and “thank you.”
In a statement, Burger King explains that the initiative aims to “help managers understand general customer service trends.”
This announcement sparked strong reactions online. Many internet users denounced this means of monitoring employees.
In response to the backlash, a Burger King spokesperson assured that “this system is not designed to track or evaluate employees who say specific words or phrases.” They also added that it is “an operational coaching and support tool designed to help our restaurant teams manage complexity and focus on excellent customer service.”
The AI platform also functions to verify order accuracy, assist employees in preparing meals by indicating ingredients for burgers, measure if the restaurant needs cleaning, and automatically alert managers to remove unavailable products from digital menus and the Burger King app.
The service is currently being tested in 500 establishments in the United States and is expected to expand to all chain restaurants in the country by the end of 2026.
