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Can AI tell you what food to order?

Answer: It’s going to start trying at the McDonald’s drive-thru.

Customers at certain McDonald’s drive-thru windows last year may have noticed that the menu changed while they were placing their order. And they weren’t imagining it — the fast food chain was testing out a new menu display powered by artificial intelligence.

The algorithm analyzes data including time, weather, traffic levels at and around the restaurant, local events, historical sales data, trending items and even your current order. It then instantly changes the menu to direct your attention to items you may be interested in adding to your order.

The fast food giant announced Tuesday that it is purchasing Dynamic Yield, the company behind the technology. McDonald’s plans to roll out the feature to 1,000 of its stores in the next three months and ultimately add them to all 14,000 U.S. locations.

Kate is a senior copy editor in Northern California. She holds a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in professional writing from the University of California, Davis.