Starbucks announced big plans for its mobile app today. The latest innovation? Artificial intelligence. In a release ahead of its annual investors conference, the company unveiled My Starbucks® Barista, an “innovative conversational ordering system.” Maybe now your name will finally be spelled correctly on your cup.
According to GeekWire, customers will be able to use the new barista feature to place orders via voice command or a chatbot interface. A limited beta version of My Barista for iOS is expected to be released in early 2017. (Eater has reached out to Starbucks for further info on how the new features will differ from the current mobile ordering system.)
Starbucks first unveiled its mobile order and pay system in September 2015, and the app has continued to drive sales for the company. In its latest report, the company says its has approximately eight million customers using the mobile pay feature.
Chatbots are all the rage lately: This summer Facebook unveiled bots to assist users with ordering delivery and takeout, and Domino’s has also launched its own Facebook ordering bot. Meanwhile, Slack users can order Taco Bell with just a few simple keyboard commands and the Butterball Turkey Text Line came online this year to answer all your ridiculous poultry-related questions.
• Starbucks to Unveil AI Technology for Mobile Orders [GeekWire]
• Starbucks Investor Day 2016 Press Release [Official]
• Starbucks Rolls Out Mobile Order and Pay Ahead System Nationwide [E]
• All Apps Coverage [E]