It really comes down to the difference between discovering you are a part of an experiment and choosing to participate. Since last year, Wendy’s has been quietly (silently?) rolling out the artificial intelligence agent it calls Fresh AI as 100 or so of its restaurants.

Even though the company admits it is a work in progress, it is full-steam ahead, despite ordering missteps and customer misgivings. CEO Kirk Tanner said on an earnings call, “It’s got a bright future, and we’re moving forward.” Then added, “As for the accuracy of the system, it definitely is improving.” Then there are the customer comments:

• “The AI order takers are garbage and get the order wrong so often I’ve had to have an employee start taking my order instead because it was so bad.”
• “Have you ever used one of the AI ordering things? They suck so badly,” And “Well I WAS going to go to Wendy’s today with my family. That’s all off now.” 
• “It. Is. Horrible. I can speak loud and clear, and it would still take 3x to understand what I’m saying,” a customer said.
• “The AI would keep cutting me off mid-sentence. It would also cut you off if you paused at all when ordering for 0.5 seconds. It’s really annoying to have the bot try to figure out how to customize menu items (i.e., no pickle).”

• “God forbid they increase wages to what the market demands. Instead, they make dumb—decisions that are going to drive them out of business.”

In a report on NBC News, a Wendy’ executive said they were looking for the right tech to solve the right problem. The “problems” most often cited are speed of deliver and order accuracy. It has led to questions as to whether or not the end goal is fewer staff, more robots and dynamic pricing. Staffing is already a sensitive subject with regard to AI.

At Wendy’s as at their competitors, it is a story still to be told. Again, as Wendy’s said as long ago as last Summer, FreshAI is “an assistant — not a replacement” for the human workers in the company’s stores,” even as it was noted AI may go beyond the drive-thru.

One thing seems certain in all the noise surrounding Fresh AI, Wendy’s did not bring to bear the same commitment to showcasing its value to customers as the fast-food chain does when introducing a new product (Girl Scout Thin Mint Frosty, anyone?). If it had, Fresh AI would not have caught customers by surprise. Never a good strategy.