As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many Americans have turned to the drive-thru as a safer means of picking up food. For some, the voice on the speaker by the menu board may be the only other person they interact with all day. But a new wave of technology that is set to transform the fast food industry may change all that. The next time you order a value meal, it might be the equivalent of Siri or Alexa taking your order. As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to play a big role in our daily lives, customers should prepare for an automated voice to ask: Do you want fries with that?

If you're forking out the cash to sit down in a nice restaurant, you're also paying for both a human and personal service, but in the fast food industry, the idea is to order, pay, grab your meal and go-- the human element doesn't much factor in. That level of efficiency is taken for granted among consumers, and-- like every other sector which relies on speed and lowering costs to remain competitive, the expectation is leading members of the fast food industry to experiment with new technologies. One such example is Good Times, a fast food chain based in Denver has reeled in the assistance of an AI (artificial intelligence) voice assistant in place of cashiers at its drive-thru service. The idea is that the voice assistant will receive the order, allowing staff to focus on fulfilling the order as quickly as possible and completing transactions. "We're automating one of the tasks that they do […] gives them more face time with the customers at the window, and makes the experience more efficient," Rob Carpenter, founder Valyant AI, the creator of the software, told Fox Business.

By now you've seen the big news about the world's largest fast-food chain by revenue. It was a bit shocking that it took this long to happen, but McDonald's (MCD) is finally embracing advanced technologies like artificial intelligence to boost sales. The guy credited with the turnaround at the 65-year-old restaurant behemoth since 2015, Steve Easterbrook, was behind the technological push that saw McDonald's not only embrace digital innovation but acquire two AI companies this year. This is big news for a few reasons. Before this year, it had been nearly two decades since the company made its last acquisition of a mediocre fast-food chain called Boston Chicken.

Check out part one of this series for what the next five to fifteen years looks like in AI. In part two we get super sci-fi and see if our crystal ball can reach 50 years into the future. Once dumb objects have woken up. Your shirt is babbling away with your shades and having a conversation with your girlfriend's pearl earrings when she's traveling to give a talk in Brazil. Everything from our houses, to weapons, to planes, trains and automobiles, to roads, clothes, jewelry, headphones, glasses, and eye contacts are wild with thoughts. The dynamic new algorithms that pushed us past deep learning and powered the fourth wave of the intelligence revolution sprang from world wide efforts to map every single neuron and connection in the human brain. Eventually the processors and biotechnology caught up with our ambitions and scientists succeeded beyond our wildest expectations.

Artificial intelligence technology are looking for ways to transform the fast food industry and KFC introduces this innovation in its new store branch in Shanghai, China. Artificial intelligence (AI) first emerged in the late 1940s. But today, AI is transforming most if not all industries, including the foodservice industry. In fact, a company called Momentum Machines has created an AI-driven robot that can make one burger from scratch every 10 seconds in an hour. Artificial intelligence technology are looking for ways to transform the fast food industry and KFC introduces this innovation in its new store branch in Shanghai, China.