Coronel Sanders seems to remember you if you're in his Beijing house. KFC in the Chinese capital got itself an artificial intelligence that can predict your orders with its facial recognition features.
In partnership with "China's Google," Baidu, this application, however, scans your retina for it to know your age, gender or mood, and basis your orders from there. For example, as reported by the Guardian, a spokesperson for the store said, "a male customer in his early 20s" would be offered "a set meal of crispy chicken hamburger, roasted chicken wings, and coke", while "a female customer in her 50s" would get a recommendation of "porridge and soybean milk for breakfast."
If you're not happy with the recommended order, you can see some other short alternatives suggested by the application as well. Once satisfied with what you choose, you can pay with your mobile phone and receive your orders shortly.
Deputy Director of the Institute of Deep Learning of Baidu Inc., Wu Zhongqin, told the Eco-Business that, "If the consumer visits the store again and takes a picture with the machine, it will be able to recognise his or her face and show the previous purchase history, remember the customer's dining habits, and help to place an order faster."
And it seems like that's not all. The machine also serves as a photo booth where friends and families can have their photos taken and save it to their phones.
While Coronel Sanders seems inviting, a lot of people are still warming up to the idea of a facial recognition app, sending out mixed criticisms towards the new technology. Others are not impressed with the machine, while many still took the old way of ordering because they like to communicate with real people I handling their orders.
Meanwhile, General Manager of Beijing KFC, Zhao Li believes the machine is for the ease and convenience of taking customers' orders. Moreover, they also look into the possibility of rolling out the technology to 5,000 more of its stores in China.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
