DoorDash launches AI bot to take customers’ takeout orders

During peak times, DoorDash’s AI system will take the load off restaurants by automatically answering incoming phone calls.

Food delivery service platform DoorDash is integrating AI technology for their restaurant clients, which will see customers communicating their food orders to AI-powered bots instead of busy in-house staff.

According to an Aug. 28 announcement from DoorDash, the new AI-powered voice ordering system will answer customer phone calls, which will be available to "select operators."

The company’s 2023 Restaurant Online Ordering Trends report revealed that while 20% of customers prefer to order their food via phone, up to 50% of customer calls are left unanswered — leading to significant unrealized losses for restaurants.

“Customers expect more from restaurateurs, and in return, restaurateurs expect even more technology-forward solutions from us — including support for phone channels to meet customers where they’re ordering,” said DoorDash’s head of product and design Rajat Shroff.

According to the statement, DoorDash will combine a mix of AI and human operators to ensure that all customer calls are answered within a short time frame, allowing restaurants to keep up with increased demand during peak times.

Additionally, DoorDash says its AI system will be able to provide a personalized customer experience by answering calls in multiple languages.

*The growth in users looking at food delivery services for order creation. Source: DoorDash*

Third-party food delivery apps have grown significantly in popularity over the last two years. The company’s report found that 34% of respondents begin their food ordering process by looking at a third-party app like DoorDash or UberEats, more than double that of 15% in 2021.

The AI-enhanced ordering system will also provide customers with potential recommendations to fill out their meal — a move DoorDash says will increase overall sales for restaurants.

In May, fast food chain Wendy’s made waves when it announced that it would be introducing an AI-powered chatbot dubbed “Wendy’s FreshAI" to take orders from drive-thru customers.

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AI boom to beat electricity and PCs, 0B investment by 2025: Goldman Sachs

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Economists from Goldman Sachs predict that AI investment could account for up to 4% of GDP in the United States by 2025.

Artificial intelligence could eventually have a bigger financial impact on the American economy than electricity and personal computers, according to economists at investment banking giant Goldman Sachs.

In an Aug. 1 investment report, Goldman Sachs economists Joseph Briggs and Devesh Kodnani predicted that AI could pull as much as $200 billion in global investments by 2025 — with half of that in the United States — boosting its gross domestic product (GDP).

While past tech booms spurred by the introduction of electricity and PCs saw GDP grow 2%, Goldman economists estimated that AI could account for up to 4% of GDP in the United States and 2.5% in other nations that have already begun investing heavily in the technology.

Projection of AI investment growth globally and in the U.S., China over next three years. Source: Goldman Sachs

Goldman attributed much of the expected gains to the rapid advancements being made in generative AI. The most notable example of generative AI technology is OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT, but the sub-sector also includes tools such as image creation software Midourney, and text-to-speech generator Eleven Labs.

"Generative AI has enormous economic potential and could boost global labor productivity by more than 1 percentage point a year in the decade following widespread usage.”

But these productive benefits of generative AI come with a cost, namely that businesses will need to start investing heavily, and soon.

"For large-scale transformation to happen, businesses will need to make significant upfront investment in physical, digital, and human capital to acquire and implement new technologies and reshape business processes," read the report.

Goldman also noted the number of companies that have mentioned or integrated AI, with 16% of Russell 3000 companies mentioning AI in their earnings calls. Considering this figure is up significantly from less than 1% in 2016, the bank said this puts America on the front foot when it comes to innovation in AI.

"The U.S., meanwhile, is positioned as the market leader in AI technology, and American companies will likely be relatively early adopters."

The economists noted that while the timing of the AI investment cycle is hard to predict, current business surveys suggest that AI will begin to have its most significant investment impact after 2025.

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