Your next Taco Bell drive-thru order might be taken by AI

The next time you ask for extra mild sauce at the Taco Bell drive-thru, a human might not be there to begrudgingly respond.

Yum! Brands, Inc. announced Wednesday it's expanding its use of voice AI technology across hundreds of Taco Bell locations in the U.S. by the end of this year, specifically focused on the drive-thru sector. That means you'll have to head inside if you want to have a real person-to-person convo about your Crunchwrap Supreme at some of its 7,400 U.S. stores.

"Tapping into AI gives us the ability to ease team members' workloads, freeing them to focus on front-of-house hospitality," said Dane Mathews, chief digital and technology officer at Taco Bell. "It also enables us to unlock new and meaningful ways to engage with our customers."

More than 100 Taco Bell locations in 13 states already use voice AI in their drive-thrus and have seen benefits like improved order accuracy, reduced wait times, a continued friendly experience and boosted profitable growth for Yum! Brands and its franchisees, the restaurant company said.

Its chief innovation officer said they have been fine-tuning and testing the AI technology for two years and collaborating with franchisees before this decision to expand it. And in addition, five Australian KFC restaurants, which are also owned by Yum! Brands, will now be testing voice AI in drive-thrus.

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Taco Bell now joins many of its rivals who have recently incorporated AI technology in the ordering process.

Last year, Hardee's, Carl's Jr. and Wendy's all said they were testing out automated ordering, all also claiming it would enhance the customer and crew experiences. But McDonald's , which started testing the technology with IBM in 2021, decided last month to end its partnership, saying it will "continue to evaluate long-term scalable solutions that will help us make an informed decision on a future voice ordering solution by the end of the year."

In all, 16% of restaurants plan to integrate artificial intelligence into their businesses this year, according to a March report from the National Restaurant Association.

Additionally, 1 in 4 restaurants plan to utilize self-ordering and payment kiosks this year. Nearly half of restaurants surveyed said they plan to use tech and automation to help with labor shortages.