How Artificial Intelligence Realized Chipotle's 'Worst Queso Scenario'

Following a tough series of highly publicized norovirous outbreaks over the summer, Chipotle Mexican Grill's lackluster queso debut last September perfectly positioned the chain for a flurry of social-media-based schadenfreude. And while viral waves of backlash have been normalized in our current social media climate, Chipotle's recent queso mishap has caught the attention of artificial intelligence-wielding financial analysts. For a note titled "Worst Queso Scenario?" RBC trained a machine to assess how social media backlash impacted Chipotle. David Palmer, RBC Capital Markets' restaurant and packaged food analyst, outlined how RBC Capital Markets' research department uniquely used artificial intelligence to robustly understand how social media actions, like tweets and Google searches, could be linked to the chain's future business health.