Your next Taco Bell drive-thru order may be taken by an AI not a human

It's only a matter of time before artificial intelligence-powered devices integrate into different facets of society, and considering these impressive AI tools are powered by Large Language Models (LLMs), it only makes sense the integration begins with roles that require communication with humans.

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One of the fundamental aspects of LLMs and, by extension, these AI-powered chatbots is to bridge the gap between human and machine communication. Microsoft recently revealed it created an AI model that was so powerful that it could perfectly replicate the sound of an individual's voice to the point where it was indistinguishable from the human-generated voice. Microsoft deemed the technology too dangerous to release to the public.

On the other end of the spectrum, AI voice generators could be capable of replacing a monotonous job such as a drive-thru server. Taco Bell is seemingly one of the first to take this step, as the fast-food chain revealed in a new press release that its parent company, Yum! Brands has been testing "Voice AI" technology at more than 100 Taco Bell drive-thru locations across the US. The parent company plans on bringing the technology to "hundreds" of more locations.

Taco Bell isn't the only fast-food chain experimenting with AI, as Wendy's has already rolled out its own version, which yielded good results. However, McDonald's recently backpedaled on its plan to integrate the new technology further.

It appears its only a matter of time before drive-thru positions will be replaced by an interactive AI voice that is indistinguishable from a human's. When that time come there will likely be warranted questioning around the ethical implications of such widespread replacements, as there will likely be thousands of employees laid off.