Burger King is piloting an AI chatbot in employee headsets to monitor and assess their interactions with customers, according to a report from technology publication The Verge.

The “Patty” voice-based assistant is part of a broader digital platform known as BK Assistant. It is intended to guide staff through food preparation and other tasks, while also monitoring how employees speak to customers.

The trial is currently live in 500 US restaurants.

Burger King’s chief digital officer Thibault Roux told The Verge that the company collected input from franchise owners and customers to define how to measure “friendliness” in staff interactions.

Managers can use the AI system to see how their outlet is performing on these friendliness indicators.

Patty uses OpenAI technology and acts as the voice interface for the BK Assistant platform.

This platform connects data from drive-through conversations, kitchen equipment, inventory systems and other parts of the operation.

Employees can ask Patty for cooking or cleaning instructions. It can also alert when machines are undergoing maintenance or when items run out.

Roux indicates that, although Burger King is embedding AI into staff workflows, it is moving cautiously on fully AI-run drive-through ordering.

The fast-food chain is testing AI-powered drive-through technology in fewer than 100 locations. According to the report, the company plans to roll out the BK Assistant web and app platform to all its US restaurants by the end of this year.