From Amazon to Wendy’s, how 4 companies plan to incorporate AIand how you may interact with it – CNBC

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Artificial intelligence is no longer limited to the realm of science-fiction novels it's increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives.

AI chatbots, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, are already being used in a variety of ways, from writing emails to booking trips. In fact, ChatGPT amassed over 100 million users within just months of launching.

But AI goes beyond large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. Microsoft defines AI as "the capability of a computer system to mimic human-like cognitive functions such as learning and problem-solving."

For example, self-driving cars use AI to simulate the decision-making processes a human driver would usually make while on the road such as identifying traffic signals or choosing the best route to reach a given destination, according to Microsoft.

AI's boom in popularity has many companies racing to integrate the technology into their own products. In fact, 94% of business leaders believe that AI development will be critical to the success of their business over the next five years, according to Deloitte's latest survey.

For consumers, this means AI may be coming to a store, restaurant or supermarket nearby. Here are four companies that are already utilizing AI's capabilities and how it may impact you.

Amazon delivery package seen in front of a door.

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Amazon uses AI in a number of ways, but one strategy aims to get your orders to you faster, Stefano Perego, vice president of customer fulfilment and global ops services for North America and Europe at Amazon, told CNBC on Monday.

The company's "regionalization" plan involves shipping products from warehouses that are closest to customers rather than from a warehouse located in a different part of the country.

To do that, Amazon is utilizing AI to analyze data and patterns to determine where certain products are in demand. This way, those products can be stored in nearby warehouses in order to reduce delivery times.

Screens displaying the logos of Microsoft and ChatGPT, a conversational artificial intelligence application software developed by OpenAI.

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Microsoft is putting its $13 billion investment in OpenAI to work. In March, the tech behemoth announced that a new set of AI features, dubbed Copilot, will be added to its Microsoft 365 software, which includes popular apps such as Excel, PowerPoint and Word.

When using Word, for example, Copilot will be able to produce a "first draft to edit and iterate on saving hours in writing, sourcing, and editing time," Microsoft says. But Microsoft acknowledges that sometimes this type of AI software can produce inaccurate responses and warns that "sometimes Copilot will be right, other times usefully wrong."

A Brain Corp. autonomous floor scrubber, called an Auto-C, cleans the aisle of a Walmart's store. Sam's Club completed the rollout of roughly 600 specialized scrubbers with inventory scan towers last October in a partnership Brain Corp.

Source: Walmart

Walmart is using AI to make sure shelves in its nearly 4,700 stores and 600 Sam's Clubs stay stocked with your favorite products. One way it's doing that: automated floor scrubbers.

As the robotic scrubbers clean Sam's Club aisles, they also capture images of every item in the store to monitor inventory levels. The inventory intelligence towers located on the scrubbers take more than 20 million photos of the shelves every day.

The company has trained its algorithms to be able to tell the difference between brands and determine how much of the product is on the shelf with more than 95% accuracy, Anshu Bhardwaj, senior vice president of Walmart's tech strategy and commercialization, told CNBC in March. And when a product gets too low, the stock room is automatically alerted to replenish it, she said.

A customer waits at a drive-thru outside a Wendys Co. restaurant in El Sobrante, California, U.S.

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An AI chatbot may be taking your order when you pull up to a Wendy's drive-thru in the near future.

The fast-food chain partnered with Google to develop an AI chatbot specifically designed for drive-thru ordering, Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor told CNBC last week. The goal of this new feature is to speed up ordering at the speaker box, which is "the slowest point in the order process," the CEO said.

In June, Wendy's plans to test the first pilot of its "Wendy's FreshAI" at a company-operated restaurant in the Columbus, Ohio area, according to a May press release.

Powered by Google Cloud's generative AI and large language models, it will be able to have conversations with customers, understand made-to-order requests and generate answers to frequently asked questions, according to the company's statement.

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From Amazon to Wendy's, how 4 companies plan to incorporate AIand how you may interact with it - CNBC

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