Burger King Tests AI Headsets That Track Employee Friendliness
Burger King is rolling out artificial intelligence-powered headsets that can listen in on drive-thru orders, help staff in the kitchen and even track how often workers use polite phrases like “please” and “thank you.”
The system, known as BK Assistant, is being tested in 500 US restaurants and is expected to reach all US locations by the end of 2026. Built with technology from OpenAI, the tool features a voice-enabled chatbot called “Patty” that lives inside employees’ headsets.
“Patty” can answer questions about how to prepare menu items, including the Whopper, remind staff how to clean equipment and flag when items like Diet Coke are running low. It also connects to Burger King’s cloud-based point-of-sale system, allowing managers to see if machines are down or if certain menu items are out of stock. In some cases, the system can update digital menus and the Burger King app to remove unavailable products within minutes.
But it’s the headset’s ability to analyze conversations that’s drawing the most attention.
The AI reviews audio from drive-thru interactions and looks for hospitality phrases such as “welcome”, “please” and “thank you.” Managers can check in on how their store is performing overall when it comes to friendliness. In a promotional video, the chatbot tells a worker, “The team's friendliness scores this morning were the highest this week.”
Thibault Roux, Burger King’s chief digital officer, described the feature as a support tool. “This is all meant to be a coaching tool,” he said. He also acknowledged that when it comes to AI at the drive-thru, “We’re tinkering with it, we’re playing around with it, but it’s still a risky bet,” adding: “Not every guest is ready for this.”
The company has pushed back on claims that it is grading individual workers. In a statement, a spokesperson said: “It is not designed to track nor evaluate employees saying specific words or phrases. BK Assistant is a coaching and operational support tool built to help our restaurant teams manage complexity and stay focused on delivering a great guest experience.”
The spokesperson added, “It’s not about scoring individuals or enforcing scripts. It’s about reinforcing great hospitality and giving managers helpful, real-time insights so they can recognize their teams more effectively.”
Still, the move has sparked backlash online, with some critics calling it “dystopian” and “peak late-stage corporate behavior.” Others have questioned how reliable the technology will be, given past hiccups with AI in fast food.
Rivals have experimented with similar tools. McDonald's previously pulled its AI ordering system from more than 100 US drive-thrus after viral videos showed the software getting orders wrong. Taco Bell has also tested AI-powered ordering but slowed its rollout following early glitches.
For now, Burger King says the goal isn’t to replace workers, but to support them, even if that means having an AI in their ear listening for a well-timed “thank you.”
