Coffee shops are blending artificial intelligence into their brews.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol confirmed that the coffee giant is taking steps to immerse itself in AI experimentation when speaking at Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce event, according to Fortune.
Niccol shared details about the internal technology that’s being developed, helping baristas prepare coffees in real time and might even one day predict someone’s order before it’s placed.
At the annual technology gathering in San Francisco, the CEO emphasized that at the current stage, Starbucks is focused on learning how AI can be implemented — but it’s already helping the company carry out its goal to be the “world’s great customer service company again.”
Right now, the most effective development at scale in the company is a tool called the “green dot,” which is a “kind of barista assistant,” Fortune reported.
A Starbucks representative told Fortune that Green Dot Assist was piloted in June and has since been rolled out to more stores.
The tool operates like a chatbot that helps store leaders manage the day-to-day operations, such as providing instructions for equipment issues or guidance on how to make a specific drink.
A spokesperson emphasized to TODAY.com that it’s only mean to “assist” employees — “making their jobs easier rather than replacing them.”
Niccol said the Starbucks app is the main focus for future AI experimentation — and there might even come a point where customers won’t have to open the app at all to order their drink.
The idea is that the AI system will predict a customer’s order, and all they’ll have to do is talk into their phone and say, “Hey, I need my Starbucks order. I’ll be there in 10 minutes,” and the order will be ready when they arrive.
However, Niccol stressed that they “are not near” any concept of a fully robotic staff at the moment, and emphasized that the coffee giant is focused on getting “more partners back into our stores to give people a great, not robotic” experience rooted in “real craft.”
Starbucks isn’t the only coffee shop to start leaning on AI — lots of changes are brewing with the technology.
In Hudson Yards in New York City, an android barista kiosk has an AI-powered robot named Jarvis that’s whipping up customers’ drinks — and even asks for a tip at the end.
The one-armed mechanical barista dances, makes eye contact with customers through its sole camera lens as they order on an iPad, and complements the preferences of beverage enthusiasts.
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