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| IBM acquires McD Tech Labs from McDonald's |
In the near future, McDonald's may not be the only restaurant trying to order food powered by artificial intelligence as IBM has reached an agreement with McDonald's to expedite the development and deployment of a voice command system.
As part of the deal, IBM is acquiring McD Tech Labs, which was founded after McDonald's acquired Apprente in 2019, to drive innovation for employees and customers.
As part of McDonald's strategic growth plan, the company is committed to innovation through digital services, delivery, and leadership. The agreement accelerates McDonald's efforts to deliver a more convenient and unique customer and employee experience.
The development and testing of automatic voice control technology in McDonald's restaurants has shown significant benefits to the experience of restaurant customers and employees.
IBM's expertise in using artificial intelligence and natural language processing to create customer service solutions enables the expansion of automated voice control systems into all markets and the integration of processes (including languages, dialects, and other menu variations).
The acquisition of McDonald's Technology Lab complements IBM's existing work of using IBM Watson to develop and deliver AI-based customer service solutions.
From financial and healthcare services to telecommunications and retail, companies from all walks of life are using Watson to improve their business results.
IBM acquires McDonald's Technology Lab
The automatic voice control system continues to integrate into McDonald's high-tech security ecosystem. All of IBM's business activities are committed to ethical and responsible technological progress.
IBM and McDonald's are committed to the responsible use of artificial intelligence. It does this by integrating ethical principles into AI applications and processes to build a system based on trust and transparency.
The deal is expected to be completed in December 2021. Upon graduation, the McDonald's Technology Lab team will become part of the US tech giant's cloud software and knowledge division.
McDonald's began testing AI orders at 10 Chicago-area restaurants in late spring.
While the fast food chain's customers and employees have seen significant benefits, it is clear that the system needs improvement. Its accuracy rate is 85%. This requires manual intervention in approximately one-fifth of the applications.