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    Burger King will use AI to check if employees say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ | AI chatbot ‘Patty’ is going to live inside employees’ headsets.
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    Burger King will use AI to check if employees say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ | AI chatbot ‘Patty’ is going to live inside employees’ headsets.


    Burger King will use AI to check if employees say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ | AI chatbot ‘Patty’ is going to live inside employees’ headsets.

    https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/884911/burger-king-ai-assistant-patty

    View 38 Comments

    38 Comments

    1. A_Pointy_Rock on

      Yes, they *should* be saying “please” and “thank you”.

      No, mass surveillance is not how this should be getting checked.

      I would boycott Burger King, but it’s hard to boycott somewhere you already don’t go to more.

    3. mrvalane on

      Im sure the AI making mistakes wont ruin peoples lives over this!

      Im sure the next step isnt using cctv or cameras on POS’s to track wether or not theyre smiling!

      Im sure petty managers wont also filter and flag mentions of their name to uphold and demonstrate the tiny amount of power they have over other team members making slave wages!

      Im sure this wont erode all sense of autonomy and self identity from those workers while being surveilled constantly, mimicking a social credit system!

    4. Caesarr on

      Reminds me of this short story:

      https://marshallbrain.com/manna

      > The “robot” installed at this first Burger-G restaurant looked nothing like the robots of popular culture. It was not hominid like C-3PO or futuristic like R2-D2 or industrial like an assembly line robot. Instead it was simply a PC sitting in the back corner of the restaurant running a piece of software. The software was called “Manna”, version 1.0*.

    7. timnphilly on

      **Alright – who let JD take over BK?** Sheesh – no wonder he was MIA for a while last year. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    8. tylerthe-theatre on

      ‘The technology isnt the problem’, yes the hell it is, AI will be increasingly used in manipulative, controlling ways by the powers that be because they want to. Hellish mix of corporatism and technocracy

    9. theclash06013 on

      So people making minimum wage get monitored by Skynet to see if they say the right words and if not they’ll get disciplined or fired, but the CEO of the 10th largest company on the planet is allowed to be in a k hole constantly?

    10. u_spawnTrapd on

      This feels dystopian in a really petty way. I get that customer service matters, but having AI monitor whether someone says “please” or “thank you” inside their headset sounds exhausting. If Burger King wants better vibes at the counter, maybe start with staffing levels and pay instead of politeness surveillance.

      Also curious how this plays out in practice. Are people going to get flagged for tone too? Feels like a slippery slope once you start quantifying basic human interaction.

    12. Mmmwafflerunoff on

      Think of if they invested in their employees happiness and a living wage. Bet they wouldn’t have to worry as much about please and thank you. Fucking more enshitification and for what a transactional interaction where it is expected that the person you are having the conversation with may very well not be pleased.

    19. rnilf on

      > Thibault Roux, Burger King’s chief digital officer, tells The Verge that the company compiled information from franchisees and guests on how to measure friendliness, resulting in the fast food chain training its AI system to recognize certain words and phrases, such as “welcome to Burger King,” “please,” and “thank you.”

      Thibault Roux sounds like a cartoon villain name. And his actions aren’t doing him any favors.

    21. -_sumac_- on

      Gotta make sure those wage slaves are on their best behaviour.

      This is pathetic. Torturing minimum wage workers with this garbage. Can we get an AI that keeps CEOs from being pedophiles instead?

    30. timallen445 on

      I want a BK burger that tastes like the 90s, they can tell me to go fuck myself if get that.

    33. Sea_Bodybuilder_1439 on

      This is where it was all headed. People working shit jobs for shit pay, already abused and denigrated by their managers, now get to be abused and denigrated by a fucking Burker King branded AI.

    34. SevereAsparagus7661 on

      As a customer, I don’t care if the fast food employee is polite. I just want the food.

    36. Ok_Television_245 on

      I’ll say it. BKs food is awful and no amount of please and thank you will get me to eat their food

    37. og_danimal on

      Welcome to 2026, where our fast food workers are held to a higher standard than our politicians.

    38. Extreme_Homework_771 on

      Jesus christ not everything needs to have AI involved…

      This feels like corporate Terminator vibes pushing down our throats