this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2026
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The company compiled information from franchisees and guests on how to measure friendliness, resulting in 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 location is performing on friendliness.

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[–] MisterFrog@lemmy.world 2 points 44 minutes ago

This is so fucking stupid. I've worked in hospitality, saying please and thank you just comes with the territory no one needs to be checking if you do it.

In a cafe that's the whole service (in my country at least): being friendly to people, and providing a nice place to hang out and have a coffee, the actual beverage is secondary.

Saying please and thank you is such base politeness. You can easily be rude or cold even when you do use them, and conversely, be absolutely lovely without using them at all.

People don't go to burger king for the pleasantries, the amount of politeness you should expect is the same as anyone else walking down the street.

Policing politeness with technology is stupid. People should ask each other how they're going genuinely. Not from a place of corporate greed.

Fuck this capitalist dystopia.

[–] Zozano@aussie.zone 1 point 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 child)

Am I the odd one out to be relieved when the people working feel comfortable to just 'be'?

Give me the quiet guy who will say "hi" and "cya", over: "heLLLOOooo, welcome to Chucks Fuck 'n' Suck, we tug 'em and sugg 'em, what can we do you 'fer?“

[–] architect@thelemmy.club 1 point 1 day ago

Yea just be good enough to me and make sure my food is fresh and I’m happy. Let it take longer if you must. Make it on your headphones dancing for all i care. Please do, in fact.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 1 point 5 days ago

The Fallout style corporate dystopia isn't coming in the future. It's today. It's right now.

[–] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 1 point 5 days ago

Jesus Christ. I don't trust any syrupy cheerful, fake happy, overly polite, "I'm sooo sooorry you had the slightest inconvenience" type customer service. No, I've done that job. You know you don't give a shit. I know you don't give a shit. You know I know you don't give a shit. We both know you can barely afford to live. The world is spiraling. Pretending otherwise is insufferable. Just be honest and give it to me jaded, bitter, and cynical like we both deserve.

[–] MasterNerd@lemmy.zip 1 point 5 days ago

ignoring the distopian nightmare, this shit isn't free to run. Hiw the hell would they justify this expense?

[–] felsiq@piefed.zip 2 points 6 days ago (1 child)

Not like I was going to burger king anyway but this is a solid reason not to

I wish I could explain to companies how fucking awkward and horrible it feels to be on the receiving end of forced gratitude. Even if I liked the restaurant, I wouldn't be able to go if they did this.

I guess it's no surprise that rich people think the experience is still the same with or without the consent of the providing party.

[–] dovahking@lemmy.world 1 point 5 days ago

"Please, go fuck yourself. Thank you."

[–] tabular@lemmy.world 1 point 5 days ago

Please do not, that's disgusting, thank you.

[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 1 point 6 days ago

So...instead of AI doing the work...AI is going to be the Boss?

Fuck. That.

[–] Chulk@lemmy.ml 1 point 6 days ago (1 child)

My SO works at a callcenter and they get dinged for the use of what they call "tragic phrases." These include, but aren't limited to:

  • "Unfortunately"
  • Words/phrases that imply uncertainty like "should"
  • Words/phrases that imply non-commitment like "I can't do that" or "that's against policy" or "that's not my dept"
  • So-called sloppy words/phrases like "No problem" or "hold on just a sec"

Its fucking ridiculous. They pay some outside vendor for training and guidelines.

[–] binarytobis@lemmy.world 0 points 6 days ago (1 child)

As a customer, I would feel much more comfortable talking to someone who doesn’t sound like they have a gun to their head.

[–] PancakesCantKillMe@lemmy.world 0 points 6 days ago (1 child)

In my younger days, I worked for U-Haul. They had these preloaded speeches you were supposed to adhere to when someone called. I am sure they felt it maximized sales. One for trailer/truck rental, another for storage, etc. I never liked acting as a robot, so I free-formed the calls (I'm a people person!). I was/and am quite customer focused, so I was good at answering the phone. Up until I got fired for not following the canned company diatribe. They had a call center dedicated to calling around the country to test employees. I failed twice.

[–] laxu@sopuli.xyz 1 point 2 days ago

That sounds exactly the kind of ridiculous stuff companies would do. Let me guess, they did not check any recordings of your calls and how you actually handled customers. Just "you failed this pointless metric".

[–] canadian_commie@lemmy.world 1 point 6 days ago

This is the worst timeline. 1984 was a warning not an instruction manual.

[–] FreshLight@sh.itjust.works 0 points 5 days ago (1 child)

That sounds like a big steaming violation of workers rights.

Is surveiling workers fine where this is planned to be executed?

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 1 point 5 days ago

This will be a US only thing. Because as you said everywhere else has laws.

[–] ch00f@lemmy.world 0 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 child)

I used to work for a consultancy that tried to bill themselves as experts in VR/AR. This is back in 2017 or so. We helped a client make a 3D tracking system with VR/AR applications, and this client let us kind of run with it.

Anyway, I was sort of head of this AR/VR thing, and we were always desperate for free advertising, so I somehow got pulled to provide my thoughts on the impact of VR/AR on the grocery store industry for an article in "The Grocer" or some other industry mag.

Leading up to the call, I was trying to think of what I'd say. My thoughts were on building out virtual grocery stores to test customer reactions before building them for real. Bring in some test subjects, see how they plan their route, how they react to different placements of goods. Track their eye movements to see if the new end-cap design is working. Time how long they spend in the store, etc. Are the aisles too narrow and claustrophobic. I got the idea from another client who was using VR to test out new detergent bottle concepts (apparently a one-off of a blow-molded bleach bottle is crazy expensive).

Well my consultancy had been purchased by a multinational conglomerate a year or so prior, so I got a phone call from some C-suite ass who wanted to brief me on what they wanted me to say to the magazine.

His idea was a service where you could have a store employee wear some kind of camera rig so the customer could sit at home in VR and pilot the employee around the store. This would essentially replace curbside pickup, but with the added benefit of "allowing the customer to pick which apple they want out of the bunch."

I resolved to ignore that advice, but the whole magazine thing ended up falling through anyway. I quit within the year.

[–] DonAntonioMagino@feddit.nl 1 point 5 days ago

Using humans like robots, what a wonderful idea!

[–] titanicx@lemmy.zip 0 points 6 days ago (1 child)

Everyone hating this, but think about it, Chick-fil-A is one of the most popular chains, and they are widely known for their employees being extremely friendly. Burger King employees are known for throwing food and punches at people. Changing that view is important. This is the wrong way about it. And yet another way idiot ceos are using llms. 

[–] MnemonicBump@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 point 6 days ago (1 child)

The only think I know Chick-Fil-A for is funding conversion therapy camps and fascist politicians. That's enough for me to never step foot in one

[–] zarkanian@sh.itjust.works 1 point 5 days ago

That place is like a cult. I mean, people are obsessed. It's just a chicken patty with pickles; how good can it be? Maybe they sprinkle crack on it; I don't know. I'm never going to find out because I'm a vegan.

[–] humanamerican@lemmy.zip 0 points 6 days ago (1 child)

As if that were the reason people don't go to Burger King

[–] HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 6 days ago (1 child)

The last time I had BK that wasn't trash was at the Honolulu airport, that was October 2024 and I think I've stopped at BK once since and it was horrible. Not to mention Canadian sizes are much much smaller it seems. Like fuck I used to buy the chicken sandwichs and now they are like half the size and the chickens shit

[–] clif@lemmy.world 0 points 6 days ago (1 child)

They're not supposed to put chicken shit on the sandwich unless you specifically request it.

[–] HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 5 days ago (1 child)

It's a part of the paty now, it comes from the chicken so it's considered chicken according to the FDA

[–] clif@lemmy.world 1 point 4 days ago

I learn something new every day, thanks bud.