We are living in a world that has now become infused with Artificial Intelligence which is the talk of the town, though a vast majority of people don’t really understand AI and how it works, which has led to either fear and/or a false sense of some magical shiny object at the end of the tunnel that will solve everything.

The point is, AI is another tool in your box that can be used, but doesn’t necessarily need to be applied in all scenarios and one of the biggest failures we’re seeing today is companies forcing AI solutions because they feel it’s relevant/trending and therefore need to do so.

Going back to the restaurant industry and food space in general, there are a few ways restaurants can implement AI that are effective now and below are some examples:

Using AI to Detect Food Safety Issues on Social Media
Aside from marketing, AI is being used today to identify food safety issues on social media by looking at a range of factors including the text used in posts along with images included – for example X company’s food has mold on it and here’s a picture of Y showing that. By fusing the two together and looking at other factors we can start to extrapolate where the problems arised.

Discovering Food Trends to Improve Menu Offering, Specials
Looking at the fried chicken craze which popped off years ago and shows no signs of slowing down now, that’s a prime (or wagyu) example of understanding what’s happening in the moment then having the ability/flexibility to respond quickly to capitalize on opportunities.

Identifying New Opportunities for Expanding Restaurant Chains Using AI
Exactly what we mentioned above, by analyzing social media behaviors using AI we can start to understand the trends, especially when it comes to businesses of all types, including restaurant chains, deciding where to invest.

The point is, AI can help the restaurant industry in a multitude of ways but it has to be implemented purposefully. And if that’s something you agree with, let’s connect and explore what’s possible.