Burger King will use artificial intelligence to check if employees are saying “please” and “thank you.”

Burger King is launching an AI chatbot that will live in the headphones used by employees. The voice-enabled chatbot, called “Patty,” is part of the overall BK Assistant platform that will not only help employees prepare meals, but will also rate their interactions with customers for “friendliness.”

says Thibault Roux, chief digital officer at Burger King Edge The company collected information from franchisees and guests on how to measure friendliness, which led to the fast food chain training its AI system to recognize certain words and phrases, such as “Welcome to Burger King,” “Please,” and “Thank you.” Managers can then ask the AI ​​assistant how their site performs in terms of friendliness. “This is all meant to be a training tool,” Rowe says, adding that the company is “iteratively” capturing the tone of conversations as well.

Patty’s OpenAI-powered software serves as the “voice” for the BK Assistant platform, which collects data across drive-thru conversations, kitchen equipment, inventory, and other areas of Burger King’s business. Employees can ask Patty questions, such as how many slices of bacon to put on the Maple Bourbon BBQ Whopper, or for instructions on how to clean the shaker.

Integrated with the new cloud POS system, the AI ​​assistant will also alert managers if a machine is down for maintenance or when an item is out of stock. “Within 15 minutes, the entire ecosystem will remove it from inventory — whether you walk into a restaurant to order from a kiosk, or whether you go to a drive-thru, the digital menu board will be updated,” says Rowe.

Burger King may be building a chatbot into employees’ headsets, but the brand doesn’t appear to be ready to launch its AI Drive-Thru service on a large scale just yet — something we’ve seen chains like McDonald’s, Wendyand Taco Bell attempt. “We’re tweaking this, we’re playing with it, but it’s still a risky bet,” Rowe says. “Not every guest is ready for that.” He adds that the company is currently testing AI Drive-Thru technology in less than 100 restaurants.

Burger King plans to launch its BK Assistant web and app platform to all US restaurants by the end of 2026, while Patty’s is piloting it in 500 restaurants.