The drive-thru experience is about to get a lot more analytical. In a move that feels like it was plucked straight from a workplace thriller, Burger King has announced it is rolling out a new digital assistant designed to listen in on worker interactions. Burger King will use AI to monitor employee friendliness by tracking how often staff members use polite phrases like “please,” “thank you,” and “welcome to Burger King.”
This technology is packaged into a platform called BK Assistant, which features a voice-activated chatbot named Patty. While the idea of a bot grading your manners might sound a bit dystopian to some, the company is framing this as a support tool rather than a digital overseer.
How Patty keeps an eye on the drive-thru
The system works through the standard headsets that employees already wear to take orders. Patty, which is built on OpenAI’s architecture, is programmed to recognize specific hospitality keywords. When a manager starts a shift, they can ask the bot for a “friendliness score” based on the team’s performance over the last few hours.
Burger King will use AI to monitor employee friendliness to help managers identify service patterns without having to stand over their shoulders all day. The company has been quick to clarify that the software is not meant to record private conversations or punish individuals who might be having a rough afternoon. Instead, they view it as a way to reinforce a standard level of hospitality across thousands of locations.
Beyond the politeness patrol
It would be a mistake to think Patty is only there to nag employees about their manners. The BK Assistant platform is actually quite a sophisticated piece of operational tech. It connects the kitchen equipment, the inventory systems, and the point-of-sale registers into one unified brain.
For a new hire, this could be a lifesaver. An employee can ask their headset how many bacon strips go on a specific burger or get step-by-step instructions on how to clean the shake machine. Patty also keeps an eye on the supplies. If the restaurant is running low on Diet Coke or if a fryer goes offline, the AI can automatically remove those items from the digital menu boards and delivery apps within minutes. This prevents the frustration of a customer ordering a meal that the kitchen can’t actually fulfill.
Can this backfire on Burger King?
Burger King will use AI to monitor employee friendliness at a time when other fast-food giants are still licking their wounds from failed AI experiments. We all remember the viral videos of AI drive-thrus getting orders hilariously wrong. Because of those high-profile stumbles, Burger King is taking a different path by focusing the technology on the employees rather than the customers.
Chief Digital Officer Thibault Roux admitted that the company is “tinkering” with AI-led ordering but considers it a risky bet for now. By putting the AI inside the headsets, they are betting that the human-to-human interaction remains the most important part of the meal, even if that human is being coached by a bot in their ear.
If you are a regular at the Home of the Whopper, you might encounter Patty sooner than you think. The pilot program is already live in hundreds of stores and is moving fast.
