"Workers Laid off for This" — AI Drive-Thru Charges White Castle Customer $15,400

While fast food inflation skyrocketed between 2021-2024, the prices that this White Castle customer was charged by an artificial intelligence system is just plain egregious.

TikTok user Trucker Boy (@truckerboyju) was left baffled after placing an order at one of the slider chain's locations via AI. And he recorded the massive, $15,400 amount he was quoted for a breakfast combo and a bottle of water.

The TikToker's video begins with the tail end of an AI-generated voice mentioning that he ordered a No. 12 combo. However, Trucker Boy seems baffled by the total amount the White Castle restaurant was charging him.

According to the fast food establishment's drive-thru screen, he was expected to shell out $147.60.

"It says $147, why does it say that?" he asks, stunned by the grand total. He zooms his camera lens into this amount before zooming out, as a graphic of a collapsible burger populates the drive-thru order screen.

When the screen refreshes, he sees that the grand total changed, but even to a more eye-watering cost, one that is tantamount to a car purchase.

It appears White Castle's AI system calculated that he'd have to pay $15,400 for his food. "What drink would you like for your No. 12 combo?" the computer politely asks. "Bro, what the f---, give me a team member. What the f---," he asks, finally giving up on attempting to order via its automated system.

With the advent of AI-ordering supplanting human workers at fast food restaurants, there have been a slew of customers uploading their own frustrating experiences on social media as well. Furthermore, there have been instances of folks demonstrating how they've managed to ultimately bypass these systems in ingenious ways.

Like this one Taco Bell patron who, upon approaching the drive-thru order speaker, asks for 1,000 waters. This request almost instantly ensures that a human will overtake the microphone to ask what he would like to buy.

And if the prospect of having an algorithm take your fast food order isn't something that excites you, you may be happy to hear that some restaurants are dropping this functionality.

This local ABC affiliate wrote in June 2024 that McDonald's decided to remove AI bots from its drive-thrus, at least for the time being. Another Fox News outlet also reported on this.

The Trust Dale blog decided to try out a number of fast food restaurants' AI systems to see how well they would do in completing artificial intelligence based orders.

Ultimately, the outlet found out that the system offered a mixed bag of results. Checkers' system was praised for not forgetting requested condiments, and employees who read the accurately submitted order ensured that all of the menu items were correct.

However, the writer's experience at Popeyes didn't go as smoothly.

After some trouble in trying to get the fried chicken chain's AI to even log in their requested food, Trust Dale ultimately gave up and asked for different food items.

After driving up to the pick-up food window, the tester indeed received the revamped food that they had requested, but highlighted that the initial order qualms culminated in a frustrating experience.

They also mentioned that the Popeyes AI experience was counterintuitive. AI-generated order taking was supposed to facilitate faster order processing times, but the opposite happened due to the computer's inability to comprehend voice prompts.

However, as they mentioned in their piece, the Checkers experience went swimmingly. And while one of the world's largest fast-food chains is doing away with AI, USA Today writes that others aren't so quick to ditch AI completely.

The outlet penned that around 500 or so spots presided over by Yum! brands will adopt the technology across America throughout 2025

This includes Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC locations. So if you like chomping down on any of the wares provided by these three fast food purveyors, you might find yourself talking to a robot the next time you're rolling up to a drive-thru.

Customers who reacted to Trucker Boy's video had a variety of responses to his clip. One person quipped, "AI Cashier: Your total is $147. Customer: It says $147. Why? AI Cashier: Thinking... Al Cashier: Best I can do is $15,400."

Someone else highlighted the irony of implementing these AI systems to replace employees, only to leave patrons tearing their hair out and wondering why they're being charged the same price as a year of community college for a combo meal. "Some fast food workers were laid off for this technology btw," one TikTok commenter said.

And another TikTok user took issue with the cost of fast food, even without the AI errors, too. "The fact that the combo costs $17.91 before the error is already criminal," they remarked.