Burger King's AI Assistant 'Patty' Will Check if Employees Say 'Please' and 'Thank You'

Burger King is piloting an OpenAI-powered chatbot named "Patty" in 500 US restaurants. The AI listens through employee headsets to detect polite phrases like "please" and "thank you."

Burger King is rolling out an artificial intelligence chatbot named "Patty" that will live inside employees' headsets to assist with operations and evaluate how friendly they are to customers. The OpenAI-powered voice assistant is part of a broader BK Assistant platform currently being piloted in 500 U.S. restaurants.

The system is trained to recognize specific words and phrases associated with good hospitality, including "welcome to Burger King," "please," and "thank you.” Managers can then ask the AI how their location is performing on "friendliness," based on aggregated keyword data. The company emphasizes this is intended as a coaching tool rather than a method for tracking individual employees.

"One of the ways that we started this was picking certain keywords, but it's one mechanism that was used to iterate on how to define friendliness," said Thibault Roux, Burger King's chief digital officer. He added that the company is working on capturing tone of voice as well.

Beyond monitoring politeness, Patty serves practical functions. Employees can ask the chatbot questions like how many bacon strips go on a limited-time burger or request cleaning instructions for the shake machine. The system is integrated with inventory and equipment sensors, alerting managers when items run low or machines need maintenance. Out-of-stock items are automatically removed from digital menus, kiosks, and the drive-thru display within about 15 minutes.

The announcement has generated significant backlash online, with social media users calling the move "gross" and "peak late-stage corporate behavior."  Privacy advocates have raised concerns about constant monitoring in the workplace, though Burger King maintains the headsets do not record conversations and only aggregate keyword data to assess overall team service patterns.

The company plans to make BK Assistant available to all U.S. restaurants by the end of 2026. Burger King is proceeding more cautiously with AI-powered drive-thru ordering, testing that technology in fewer than 100 locations as it evaluates customer comfort with automated ordering systems.