Would you like butter with your ice cream? Probably not, but that’s what one McDonald’s customer got when she tried to order a caramel sundae without caramel at the restaurant’s drive-through window. The order had been taken by a robot that uses artificial intelligence (AI). After multiple customers reported problems ordering with AI, McDonald’s announced that it would stop using the technology—for now. 

McDonald’s began using the AI ordering system at more than 100 of its restaurants in 2021 to test whether to install the technology permanently. Many people were concerned that AI could end up replacing human workers, causing McDonald’s employees to lose their jobs. But the robot has made more mistakes than human workers, often misinterpreting what customers are asking for. Some of these misunderstandings are pretty major. 

Many customers have posted videos of themselves at drive-through windows, trying to get the food they want. In one video, a customer starts laughing as the robot adds more and more Chicken McNuggets to her bill, for a total of 280 nuggets.

“The McDonald’s robot is wild,” the customer’s comment reads. 

Another customer said she ordered one sweet tea and ended up with nine teas on her bill because AI added someone else’s order to hers.  

McDonald’s will get rid of its AI technology by the end of July 2024. But that might not be the end of the story. The company says it hasn’t ruled out bringing AI back sometime in the future.