I compared drive-thrus at McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A and preferred the fried-chicken chain’s human touches over AI — even though it took double the time

• I visited McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A to compare their drive-thru experiences.
• Both chains are trying to speed up their drive-thrus with order-ahead options on their apps.
• McDonald’s is using AI voice recognition to take orders, while Chick-fil-A is humanizing its customer service with friendly fast-food workers.

McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A have both updated their drive-thrus in recent years. McDonald’s has been adding AI-powered voice bots to its drive-thru lanes, while Chick-fil-A has been opening some drive-thru only locations, as the chains look to improve convenience and speed of service.

I recently tested drive-thrus at Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s in Overland, Kansas to see how they compared.