'Fries with that?': McDonald's to tempt customers with AI-driven menus

McDonald's is to start using AI to tweak its drive-thru menus on the fly in a bid to tempt customers into spending more - from moving ice cream to the top of the list during a heatwave, to recommending a coffee at sunrise.

The fast food giant has bought the machine-learning start-up company Dynamic Yield, and will use its technology to serve up personalised ordering experiences to those with a hankering for a takeaway.

Once implemented, customers who pull up at a McDonald's in their car will be greeted by menus optimised based on factors like the weather, the time of day, best-sellers and how busy the restaurant is.

It can also suggest additional sides, drinks and treats that might go well with already selected items, which could see you inadvertently transform that relatively modest cheeseburger order into a three-course meal.

Image:customers will also be tempted into adding extra items to their orders

McDonald's - which has 38,000 restaurants spread across more than 100 countries - tested the technology last year and will begin to roll it out at drive-thru locations in the US throughout 2019.

It will then start appearing worldwide, as well as at self-order kiosks inside the diners and on the McDonald's app.

McDonald's chief executive Steve Easterbrook said the acquisition of Israeli firm Dynamic Yield was about "enhancing the experience for our customers by providing greater convenience on their terms".

He added that the company was committed to "creating more personalised experiences for our customers".

Image:Menus will be able to suggest items based on what is popular at the time

According to The Wall Street Journal, McDonald's bought Dynamic Yield, founded in 2012, for $300m (£227m) - a move that provides further evidence of a shift in focus for major fast food brands.

Technology has become a key part of the strategy for the likes of McDonald's, which for a week in January tried to persuade people in the UK to download its app by offering those who did a free burger.

Rival Burger King had its own mobile-based promotion in the US customers-to-McDonalds-11572674">back in December, offering customers within a certain radius of a McDonald's the chance to unlock a Whopper for one cent through the Burger King app.

The AI-driven menus being planned by McDonald's are unlikely to go down well with anti-junk food campaigners who want to tackle childhood obesity.

Earlier this month, Labour deputy leader Tom Watson hit out at an existing McDonald's Monopoly campaign that gave customers the chance to win prizes - including more food.

Last year, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced that junk food promotions were to be banned on the entire Transport For London network, and the government is also considering banning such adverts on TV before 9pm.