Chick-fil-A has no plans to add AI to its drive-thru ordering service despite other rivals doing so

ATLANTA (Gray News) - Chick-fil-A leadership says customers can continue to expect to be served by its team members at restaurant locations and not artificial intelligence.

Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy recently shared in a CNBC interview that it’s not pursuing AI voice ordering in its drive-thru lanes.

Cathy stated that the company is exploring opportunities to use AI but just more behind the scenes.

“From our experience, we really want that hospitality to be human to human,” Cathy was quoted in the interview. “We’re not gonna substitute that interaction with technology, because we feel like that hospitality is so important to create that warm environment for consumers.”

The popular chicken chain’s stance against using AI in its drive-thru lanes comes as some of its fast-food competitors move forward with their automated order-taking plans.

McDonald’s shared that it plans to test its drive-thru AI assistant called Archy, while Wendy’s has also rolled out its AI drive-thru ordering assistant called FreshAi.

Earlier this year, Forbes shared a survey conducted by SurveyMonkey that found that 79% of customers said they would prefer interacting with a human versus some sort of automated customer service.

Chick-fil-A’s enduring focus on customer service has made it the fast-food leader when it comes to customer satisfaction. Ranking in the top two spots on the American Customer Satisfaction Index for more than a decade and has been the clear leader in the fast-food chicken category.