• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Skip to navigation
Close Ad

The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

  • Home
  • Podcasts
  • Events
  • Newsletter
  • Connect
    • Custom Events
    • Slack
    • RSS
    • Send us a Tip
  • Advertise
  • Consulting
  • About
The Spoon
  • Home
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Advertise
  • About

AI-Powered Colonel Sanders and Santa Voices May Be Coming to a Drive-Thru Near You

by Michael Wolf
December 16, 2022December 16, 2022Filed under:
  • News
  • Restaurant Tech
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Are drive-thrus the next celebrity voice licensing opportunity?

If Presto Automation has its way, the answer could be yes. The restaurant automation company announced this week that it has launched a new custom voice solution that features different characters ranging from celebrity voices to restaurant mascots to localized voices with specific local dialects.

According to the company, the new Presto Voice feature allows guests to place orders in a conversational style and says its natural language recognition technology will allow it to operate even in high noise environments. In addition to celebrities and brand mascots such as Colonel Sanders, the technology will also enable offer seasonal voices (like Santa) and regional personalities such as local sports athletes.

In the release, Presto claims in a recent survey that 68% of consumers aged 18-44 years said that they are significantly more likely to use a drive-thru featuring celebrity voices. I’m personally skeptical about how persistent any boost in business computer-generated character voices would be, but I’m willing to be persuaded.

Celebrity voices or not, there’s no doubt that this type of technology will continue to gain traction as restaurant operators struggle to hire qualified employees. If Presto and other drive-thru automation technology prove to be reliable, my guess is the drive-thru employee at large national chains will become an endangered species within 5 years.


Related

Get the Spoon in your inbox

Just enter your email and we’ll take care of the rest:

Find us on some of these other platforms:

  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
Tagged:
  • Presto
  • restaurant tech

Post navigation

Previous Post Will AI Make For Better CPG Products? These Startups Think So
Next Post Podcast: Hospitality in the Era of Web3 with Ben Leventhal

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Get The Spoon in Your Inbox

The Spoon Podcast Network!

Feed your mind! Subscribe to one of our podcasts!

A Week in Rome: Conclaves, Coffee, and Reflections on the Ethics of AI in Our Food System
How ReShape is Using AI to Accelerate Biotech Research
How Eva Goulbourne Turned Her ‘Party Trick’ Into a Career Building Sustainable Food Systems
Combustion Acquires Recipe App Crouton
Next-Gen Fridge Startup Tomorrow Shuts Down

Footer

  • About
  • Sponsor the Spoon
  • The Spoon Events
  • Spoon Plus

© 2016–2025 The Spoon. All rights reserved.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.