Soon you’ll be able to make your way to some Burger King locations with the help of an AI chatbot for employees. As revealed on Thursday by the company’s chief digital officer in an interview with The Vergeadded to the fast-food chain Patty, an AI chatbotto headsets worn by some of its employees as part of a 500-location pilot later this year.

The Patty chatbot will assist with work tasks but also monitor behaviors, making sure employees use phrases like “please” and “thank you” in customer interactions.

“It’s meant to be a teaching tool,” Burger King’s Thibault Roux told The Verge.

Patty, which cannot be mistaken for the Krabby Patty burger from SpongeBob SquarePants, will also perform tasks such as alerting the inventory management system when an item is out of stock. Patty is part of a larger AI-driven system called BK Assistant that will be available in all Burger King restaurants by the end of the year.

While Burger King will use AI in headsets, Roux said it is not yet ready to use the technology for taking orders, although other fast-food chains have already tried it. While AI seems to be taking over entire industries, businesses like Taco Bell found that rolling out AI to hungry customers is harder than it sounds. A pilot for AI ordering from McDonald’s ends in 2024did not succeed.

“Not every guest is ready for this,” Roux said.

AI-powered burger-making labor vision

Not everyone is a fan.

The AFL-CIO’s new executive director Technology Institute, Lauren McFerransaid Burger King’s plan is part of a larger workplace trend toward using AI for employee monitoring.

“Workers throughout the economy are subject to invasive and dehumanizing monitoring that underscores the need for strict and enforceable guardrails,” McFerran said. “AI should be used to make jobs better and safer, not as an invasive tool to harm workers.”