To improve accuracy, reduce wait times and ease worker stress, fast-food giants McDonald's and Papa Johns are deploying artificial intelligence ordering systems.

There's been a lot of discussion on the use of artificial intelligence and the future of work. Will human creativity be usurped by bots? How will A.I. be incorporated into the finance function? These are just some of the questions organizations will face. I asked Sayan Chakraborty, copresident at Workday (sponsor of CFO Daily), who also leads the product and technology organization, for his perspective on a balance between tech and human capabilities.

Chain restaurants of all culinary persuasions have experimented with virtual assistants, which provide another digital channel through which customers may order food. However, few quick-service chains are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help humans take orders more quickly and personalize service. Here, Papa John's thinks it's cracked the code with its AI-assisted call center. The call center initiative, dubbed PapaCall, proved critical during the COVID-19 crisis in enabling consumers leery of human contact to order pizza, beverages, and other food, says Justin Falciola, Papa John's chief insights and technology officer, who oversaw the rollout of the service. Get the latest insights with our CIO Daily newsletter.

WellSaid Labs describes what clients can expect from its "eight new digital voice actors!" Tobin is "energetic and insightful." Paige is "poised and expressive." Ava is "polished, self-assured, and professional." Each one is based on a real voice actor, whose likeness (with consent) has been preserved using AI.

I can't remember the last time I called someone on the phone to place an order for pizza. Papa John's told investors during its first-quarter earnings call that 55% of its total sales now come through digital. Sixty percent of those digital transactions came from mobile devices. Competing pizza chains Domino's and Yum! Brands' Pizza Hut are also investing heavily in e-commerce. Both have invested in ordering methods for smartwatches, connected cars, and video game systems.

Last month we heard about DRU, the Domino's delivery robot that's getting a trial run in Australia. The idea may seem silly, but some new restaurant industry numbers highlight the growing importance of food delivery in an age when consumers expect online ordering and rapid to-their-door service. As consumers get more comfortable with autonomous delivery (which is on the way, despite lots of skepticism), a restaurant industry that already uses state of the art logistics services could begin adding delivery robots to their operations in the next decade. According to information provided by 1010data, our hunger for the pies is growing. Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Papa John's combined to account for 45.1% of total food delivery sales, up from 40.3% in 2014.