Recently, an increasing number of restaurants have started using artificial intelligence (AI) to answer calls, handle reservations, and address other inquiries. This shift is gradually gaining traction in the dining industry, prompting people to double-check whether they are speaking to a human or a machine.
According to a report in Wired magazine, many emerging companies have launched AI assistants over the past few years to provide telephone services for restaurants. Examples include the Maitre-D AI introduced in the Bay Area in 2024, RestoHost answering calls for over 150 restaurants in Atlanta, and Slang, which transitioned last year to providing AI services for restaurants.
These AI assistants were developed to alleviate the workload of restaurant staff, especially in the post-pandemic era where many restaurants still face staff shortages.
Alex Sambani, CEO of Slang, stated that popular restaurants might receive between 800 and 1000 calls per month, which translates to over 30 customer calls per day during peak times, possibly with some unhappy customers. Answering such calls can be quite stressful.
As Matt Ho, a restaurant owner in San Francisco, put it: "The phone never stops ringing, and we often get simple questions that can be answered on our website." Using an AI platform can make the host's job easier and not disturb guests who are dining.
However, despite the good intentions behind using AI, these models often respond slowly and can even misunderstand questions when handling customer inquiries. A Wired journalist found that many AI voice assistants require waiting for responses, sometimes even going silent and failing to react quickly. For instance, when making last-minute changes to a reservation, the AI can get stuck.
Not all restaurant owners are satisfied with this technology. Brian Owens, who used Slang in several restaurants in New York, initially thought using AI to reduce labor costs was a good idea. However, after seeing AI often disappoint customers, his opinion changed. He said, "If you ask a robot about the atmosphere of a restaurant, it's clearly different from asking a person who can express genuine emotions."
For some customers, companies using AI might be a deal-breaker. A recent survey showed that over half of the respondents said they would consider switching to competitors if they discovered a business used AI in customer service.
Key Points:
🌟 Restaurants are adopting AI to answer calls, aiming to reduce the workload of staff.
📞 AI assistants perform inconsistently when handling customer inquiries, with slow response times.
🤖 Over half of customers are opposed to restaurants using AI, willing to switch to competitors.