Chick-fil-A will not follow suit with the growing trend of fast-food chains using artificial intelligence to facilitate drive-thru orders.
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Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy said that the company values human interaction and will not replace its employees with AI systems.
"From our experience, we really want that hospitality to be human to human," Cathy told CNBC. "We're not going to substitute that interaction with technology. We feel like that hospitality is so important to create that warm environment for consumers."
Several fast-food competitors, including McDonald's and Wendy's, have already made strides to convert the drive-thru structure to AI automation.
McDonald's is rolling out Archy, an AI-powered system that can take orders, suggest an extra item and help make sure your order items actually make it into the bag.
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Brian Rice, the McDonald's executive vice president and global chief information officer, lauded the new AI technology, which will soon be implemented at nearly 50,000 locations.
"In our early test restaurants with Archy, drive-thru customer satisfaction is above national trends," Rice said. "As Archy scales, it will free at least 50 labor hours per week. This is one of the most significant and tangible benefits of ArchIQ."
ArchIQ will also be used with accuracy scales to verify "millions of orders every single day," Rice said.
"These enable our crew to catch and correct 10% of those orders before they ever reach the customer," Rice said.
Wendy's took a similar approach by partnering with Google to form FreshAi. Last year, Wendy's released a statement on how FreshAi will revolutionize its drive-thru experience.
"Wendy's isn't innovating for the sake of innovation. We're laser-focused on transforming the ordering experience for our customers and our team members by scaling Wendy's FreshAi, our groundbreaking AI-powered drive-thru assistant," the statement read.
"Wendy's FreshAi is the latest example of how we're leveraging technology and business-relevant innovation to fuel growth and streamline restaurant operations. Wendy's FreshAi - known as Wendy, a reliable assistant for the restaurant teams - excels at order accuracy, language capabilities and handling diverse menu offerings."
While its competitors are implementing AI into their daily practices, Chick-fil-A is standing pat with its human-driven diner experience.
