How Will Artificial Intelligence Impact on Restaurants? Read report

In an industry, running a restaurant is like a fight for survival. From this term, we can relate Darwin’s one of the famous quotation, “Survival of the fittest”. It is not limited only for biological evolution. In real life survival, it also expresses the economic development as there are many restaurants already present in the market. In between that if you want to run your restaurant successfully, then you have to apply some unique looks and facilities to attract the people. After that, the structure and nature of the restaurant matters. Besides all quality and taste of food can touch the customer’s heart so that they will come again.

Why AI (Artificial Intelligence) use in Restaurants?

For bringing this uniqueness, many of the restaurants have started to apply AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology to improve their facilities and working. It makes the restaurant forecasting more accurate and less time-consuming. Numerous benefits like limiting the waste, projecting sales and planning promotions can use AI. It also helps to minimize cost and maximize profits.

So at first, let’s learn about Artificial Intelligence, its benefits and risks.

What is AI

AI is a computer program which creates intelligence machines. It is one of the growing technology industry. Activities with Artificial Intelligence included in a computer are as follows.

1. Knowledge
2. Reasoning
3. Problem Solving
4. Perception
5. Learning
6. Planning
7. Manipulate and move objects.

Some of the popular applications that included AI (Artificial intelligence) are SIRI (used in iPhone), Self-driving cars, Amazon Echo, Google Assistance etc.

Machine learning is also an essential subset of Artificial Intelligence. It is the function or act that can be performed by analyzing and learning from data input. When you search for gadget or clothes or anything else on Flipkart or Amazon, and you can notice that thing come up in Facebook newsfeed advertisement. Every one of you can see this if you check it carefully. It is the primary example given from daily life.

Benefits of AI or Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence can be helpful for the owner of a restaurant in several ways. Few discussions are as follows.

• Savings – Reducing the expense and stress of the owner by getting rid of hiring and managing humans. Also, there will be no thought of vacations and leave of absence due to illness.
• Efficiency – By using AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology customer will get consistent experience regarding food as the robots prepare the meal as per specification.
• Fewer Mistake – AI (Artificial Intelligence) is used to be worked automatically. So it can eliminate human errors. During pressure of peak time, humans can make mistakes, not artificially intelligent robots. Thus the mistake will be minimized.
• Repetition – Using AI (Artificial Intelligence) the same job can be repeated faster than humans. It can also include multitasking.
• Enhance the guest’s experience – Special guests can get more critical as the workload and other headache tasks of staffs are done by using AI (Artificial Intelligence).
• Increase the market reach – With AI (Artificial Intelligence) owner can reach to customers, even outsides of restaurants. It will help to increase sell. Use of automation gives better suggestions.

Risks of AI (Artificial Intelligence)

• Cost – Most of the AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology is expensive to implement and develop. So this facility can only be implemented by large restaurants. For small restaurants, it will be costlier than their earning.
• Stagnation – AI (Artificial Intelligence) needs to be upgraded to adapt to the changing environment.
• Unemployment – Replacement of humans with AI (Artificial Intelligence) results in unemployment which is most dangerous for a human being to survive.
• Inefficiency – Through AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology increased technology, but sometimes a fault may occur. So every time it is not efficient.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology in restaurants

Despite the risks, Artificial Intelligence (AI) used in some restaurants to develop the technology. As the owner believe that benefits are higher than risks. Utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the restaurant industry by including

• Robotics
• Smart Kiosks
• Chat-bots
• Food Service Apps

1) Robotics Technology:

Robotics Technology provides manufacturing robots using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Very few Restaurants are using AI-driven robots to speed up the working process. Either it is preparing food or delivering, in both cases robot can work faster and more accurate than a human.

California based start-up provides an Artificially Intelligent kitchen assistant called Flippy. This robot can do lots of kitchen tasks like frying, grilling, plating etc. Software and sensors with a camera allow monitoring food preparation, temperature control and other factors for Flippy.

Later CaliBurger makes a partnership with this start-up. They use Flippy in Pasadena Restaurant, where the robot prepared more than 300 burgers daily. They order 50 more robots and by the end of 2019 CaliBurger intend the use of Flippy in 50 plus locations around the world.

A Japanese Technology firm develops an AI-driven robot waiter named as Pepper. It can accept customer orders, recommendations and take payment using Master-card. Also, they can speak like a human being so that customer can talk to Pepper. In Asia, few numbers of Pepper robots have bought and used by Pizza Hut.

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2) Smart Kiosks:

Kiosks is a small structure which displays information or provides a service. Focusing on the task of reducing the time for customer restaurants integrates AI-driven kiosks. It makes the ordering process easier. The smart kiosk is a type of self-service which takes order in a digitized manner. AI-driven smart kiosks provide the order based on preferences. Customer also can select another option.

McDonald includes smart kiosks as a part of their restaurant for future experience concept. Digitally the menu has shown to the customer. An order may select either by the stalls or by the customer. In this way, McDonald saves labour cost.

Wendy, another restaurant also install smart kiosks. It gives better customer experience, especially among younger customer who are digitally upgraded.

KFC, a well-known restaurant, also use AI-enabled face recognition technology to predict order. Chinese search engine combining with KFC developed this technology which works in practical terms.

3) Chat-bots:

Responding to customer queries, processing and customizing orders, many of the restaurants have started to use Chat-bots. Chat-bots reply in the form of typed messages just like humans. This Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is growing day by day as it provides information to the customers. They offer suggestions, make decisions, give feedback for the queries.

Domino’s Pizza focuses on technology. Chat-bot used by them will ask the customer relevant information whether they want to eat here or to take home. Customers only have to enter the ‘pizza’ word to start the process. It helped sales globally with a huge amount.

Starbucks, another restaurant applied the AI restaurant technology. Under this, they use a voice chat-bot like Amazon Alexa named as Starbucks Recorder which takes the order of the customer by saying, “Alexa, order my Starbucks”. The Chatbot’s design is in a manner that it can replicate. Customer can change their drink order using this facility.

4) Food Service Apps:

Foodservice apps are also utilizing Artificial Intelligence. Thus, it will benefit the restaurant industry. It improves not only the customer service level but also food quality.

Artificial Intelligence Company TellSpec develops a handheld scanner to classify the contents of cooked food. They use bio-information techniques and learning algorithms for identifying ingredients. A light beam flashes to the food and classifies the compounds. Restaurants get data about their food via smartphone. This helps to remove any harmful substances from the diet. It increases the confidence of the customer as it differentiates the contamination from the menu and gives the nutritional aspects.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in reshaping the future of Restaurants

AI machine learning helps to calculate future sales by forecasting the sales including holiday sales, festival sales and reducing the wasting of foods for a restaurant. Manually it is quite tough to look into all the part, but with the help of technology, it will be easier.

1) Reducing the wasting of foods:

Wasting food is not only a personal issue but also a global issue. To reduce this, wasting restaurants should start forecasting. They have to take care of their inventory stocks data and previous sales depending on the weather, occasional conditions. This will help to meet the actual need of the customers.

But it is quite tough for a human being to take care of records all the time. So Artificial Intelligence, including machine learning, is used to manage all the data accurately.

2) Forecasting holiday sales and festival sales:

Using of Artificial Intelligence restaurants can accurately project their holiday sales, festival sales during the season. It can predict the customer number and stocks of food according to their demands. It helps to take effective strategies to enhance performance and efficiency rather than earning money only.

Using AI, food and labour cost can be optimized by restaurant owners, operators and managers. They can make decisions based on previous sales data and stocks.

Let’s Conclude

Artificial Intelligence can be implemented by large as well as small restaurants. Though it has risks in front of the benefits, these risks can be taken. In every work, there are risks, but this doesn’t mean it cannot be done. Implementation of AI in restaurants not only helps to earn money but also enhance the performance, facility and customer experience. It develops the infrastructure of a restaurant and moves one step ahead towards the digitization.

Nowadays, people choose their food and dining influencing by their friends and reviews on social media. So restaurants should make changes according to the factors to innovate technologies and techniques. Here Artificial Intelligence gives a massive opportunity to transform restaurants with the abilities to deliver recommendations, including analyzing data and insights. Despite being complex, Artificial Intelligence makes it easier.