How 5 companies are already using AI, from Mercedes to Wendy’s

Jun 22, 2023

Simone Del Rosario Business Correspondent

By Simone Del Rosario (Business Correspondent), Dan Reardon (Editor), Brent Jabbour (Producer)

Generative artificial intelligence has exploded since ChatGPT hit the mainstream late last year. Five For Friday has covered the jobs AI could replace and even the ways it could be sued. But technology advancement has already graduated past theoretical applications. Here are the real-world businesses already using generative AI in this week’s Five For Friday.

#5: Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes’ current voice assistant MBUX operates like Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. The inclusion of ChatGPT in 900,000 vehicles promises a more intuitive and natural conversation with your car.

The company says you can ask more complex questions. The voice assistant can give you information about your destination or even make restaurant suggestions for when you get there; anything to keep drivers from looking down at their cell phones while on the road.

#4: Night Shift Brewing

Craft brewers spend countless hours coming up with interesting concoctions with equally quirky names. But the team at Night Shift Brewing just outside of Boston decided to outsource the process to readily-available AI. Apparently it’s becoming a trend in the industry.

The team used ChatGPT to come up with the name and formulate the recipe for a New England Hazy IPA. They also used Midjourney to design the label for AI-P-A. Humans were involved in the creation to make sure the robot brewers didn’t get too out of control. The brew has a rating above 3.5 on Untappd — not too bad considering how particular craft beer drinkers can be.

#3: Wendy’s

Wendy’s says its drive-thru AI is so good, you might not be able to tell whether it’s a human or chatbot. The chain is testing out the chatbot, developed with Google, starting with one Columbus, Ohio-area restaurant this June.

The company took extra care to make sure it is as accurate as possible and can understand their customers’ complex orders. Wendy’s says it knows that if someone says, “JBC,” they mean a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, and that if someone asks for a milkshake, they’re looking for a Frosty. It will even upsell a customer before handing the order off to its human coworkers.

#2: Duolingo

Duolingo gamified learning a new language and adding GPT-4 to the mix is making it that much more robust.

Duolingo Max allows users to practice real-world conversations with the bot to boost their skills. You can practice making plans with friends or ordering a beverage at a cafe. The “Explain My Answer” feature helps you get to the bottom of why you may have gotten an answer wrong. For now, the feature is only available for those learning French or Spanish and IOS users. Again, the real people at Duolingo are behind the scenes making sure the bot is correct and isn’t too rude.

#1: Live 95.5 FM

Portland Oregon’s Live 95.5 is breaking ground with the technology in the form of an AI DJ.

The station used RadioGPT to create a robot version of its very real radio personality Ashley Elzinga. AI Ashley sounds just like the real deal and can even talk with listeners. The station says the real Ashley’s job is safe and her salary will stay the same. If this sounds familiar, it’s because The Simpsons did it all the way back in 1994.

Tags: Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, Google, Mercedes, Midjourney, Oregon

SIMONE DEL ROSARIO:

AI’S BEEN THE HOT TICKET IN TOWN EVER SINCE CHATGPT WENT MAINSTREAM LATE LAST YEAR. SINCE THEN WE’VE TALKED ABOUT THE JOBS IT *COULD REPLACE AND EVEN ALL THE WAYS IT *COULD GET SUED. BUT WE’RE PAST THEORETICAL NOW. HERE ARE FIVE WAYS BUSINESSES ARE ALREADY USING GENERATIVE AI IN THIS WEEK’S FIVE FOR FRIDAY.

MERCEDES IS MAKING CHATGPT ITS VOICE ASSISTANT IN 900,000 VEHICLES. BEFORE THIS, MBUX WAS BASICALLY LIKE ALEXA OR SIRI FOR YOUR CAR.
“hey mercedes.” “How may i help you?”
BUT MERCEDES SAYS THE NEW BETA PROGRAM IS MORE INTUITIVE AND NATURAL. THEY SAY YOU CAN ASK MORE COMPLEX QUESTIONS LIKE INFO ABOUT YOUR DESTINATION OR GET DINNER SUGGESTIONS, ALL WHILE KEEPING YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD.

CRAFT BREWERS SPEND COUNTLESS HOURS DREAMING UP NEW HOPS WITH SILLY NAMES. BUT THE FOLKS AT BOSTON AREA’S NIGHT SHIFT BREWING DECIDED TO OUTSOURCE THE PROCESS TO AI. THEY USED CHAT GPT TO FORMULATE THE RECIPE OF A NEW ENGLAND HAZY IPA AND ITS NAME. THEN THEY USED MIDJOURNEY TO DESIGN THE LABEL. OF COURSE HUMANS WERE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS OF CREATING AI-P-A. AND IT HAS A 3.76 RATING ON UNTAPPD, NOT TOO BAD FOR HOW PICKY BEER SNOBS CAN BE.

IS IT A HUMAN? IS IT A CHATBOT? WENDY’S SAYS YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO TELL! THE CHAIN’S TESTING OUT A DRIVE-THRU CHATBOT DEVELOPED WITH GOOGLE, STARTING AT ONE COLUMBUS, OHIO-AREA RESTAURANT. THEY TRAINED IT TO KNOW THAT JBC MEANS JUNIOR BACON CHEESEBURGER AND THAT SOMEONE MIGHT ASK FOR A MILKSHAKE, BUT WHAT THEY REALLY WANT IS A FROSTY. IT EVEN UPSELLS. FROM THERE YOUR ORDER GOES TO ITS HUMAN COWORKERS, WHAT’S LEFT OF ‘EM.

DUOLINGO ALREADY GAMIFIED LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE. AND GPT-4 IS JUST UPPING THE GAME. WITH DUOLINGO MAX YOU CAN PRACTICE REAL-WORLD CONVERSATIONS WITH THE BOT TO BOOST YOUR SKILLS, LIKE MAKING PLANS WITH FRIENDS OR ORDERING A DRINK AT A CAFE. THE “EXPLAIN MY ANSWER” FEATURE HELPS YOU GET TO THE BOTTOM OF WHY YOU MAY HAVE GOTTEN AN ANSWER WRONG. REAL PEOPLE AT DUOLINGO ARE STILL BEHIND THE SCENES MAKING SURE THE BOT’S CORRECT AND DOESN’T GET TOO SNIPPY.

PORTLAND OREGON’S LIVE 95.5 FM IS USING AN AI DJ. THEY USED RADIOGPT TO CREATE A BOT VERSION OF THEIR VERY REAL RADIO PERSONALITY ASHLEY ELZINGA. “it’s ai ashley calling our first taylor swift winner” “that’s crazy yeah that sounds like me i guess i have the day off” THEY SAY THE REAL ASHLEY’S JOB IS SAFE, BUT JUST WAIT UNTIL IT MASTERS THE WACKY MORNING ZOO FORMAT. OH WAIT THE SIMPSONS ALREADY DID IT IN 1994.

I CAN’T BELIEVE ASHLEY DIDN’T GET A RAISE FOR THAT…GIRL I SURE HOPE YOU PROTECTED YOUR LIKENESS! I WISH I HAD ADVICE FOR THOSE WENDY’S EMPLOYEES, THAT’S FIVE FOR FRIDAY I’M SIMONE DEL ROSARIO AND IT’S JUST BUSINESS.