Presto Automation Inc. pitched a restaurant industry desperate to combat rising wages on a talking chatbot that could take orders with almost no human intervention. The firm touted OpenAI’s Sam Altman as an early investor. And it has used the firm’s technology to improve its system as it aims to triple deployments to 1,200 locations next year.

But disclosures in recent filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and changes to marketing suggest that the technology is less autonomous than it first appeared. The company, which went public last year, now says “off-site agents” working in locales such as the Philippines help during more than 70% of customer interactions to make sure its AI system doesn’t mess up.

….Presto now touts what it calls “humans in the loop” as a competitive advantage that frees up restaurant staff to focus on preparing the food. It also points out the benefit of doing this behind the scenes, saying in a filing that the human element is integrated so well that diners are unaware.

“Our human agents enter, review, validate and correct orders,” Casanova, who was promoted to Presto’s CEO from chief operating officer, told investors on a recent earnings call. “Human agents will always play a role in ensuring order accuracy.”

Read more:

Sirtori-Cortina, D. (2023, December 7). AI-Powered Drive-Thru Is Actually Run Almost Entirely By Humans. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-07/ai-fast-food-drive-thrus-need-human-workers-70-of-time