iFood tests voice AI for drivers and customers using OpenAI technology

iFood tests OpenAI’s new Realtime API, Using the voice model to improve the experience for customers and delivery drivers using their version of the app. Powered by GPT-4o, the tool was released by the developer at the beginning of October and comes to the delivery app in partnership with the AI ​​team of the Prosus group, controller of iFood.

With a natural voice and human-like speech nuances, the new feature has the ability to pause and move based on the context of the conversation. provide more engaging interactions. The first experiments were conducted with the artificial intelligence assistant Jhow, which supports delivery drivers and adds voice to it.

Instead of typing delivery drivers Use your voice to ask the chatbot questions about a variety of app-related topics, accept and complete deliveries, and determine the best times to work and much more. The company claims to have conducted more than 100 real voice tests in Portuguese, with “promising” initial feedback.

Test participants noted the following advantages: ease of interaction, fast response time and convenience of using voice chat on rainy daysamong others. According to iFood, new experiments will be carried out with the Realtime API before the beta version of the update is released.

Improvements for customers too

When it comes to receivers, the new OpenAI model provides: Use your voice to select meals, customize the order, choose payment method and available options like free delivery, and set a spending limit. The delivery AI will then present the best restaurant options that meet the requirements.

The company conducted the first tests of voice commands with employees. I spent an average of one minute completing requests from initial message to payment. The next step is to test with real customers before rolling out the tool to more than 55 million active users.

“Our work with OpenAI is an important step towards what we call the experience of the future. Moreover, the new tool makes us even more inclusive, Serving people who lack literacy, have difficulty with foreign language terms, or even have impaired vision”, underlined Thiago Silva, iFood’s director of partnerships and innovations.