A dumb easy solution is to just create a call center of sorts and allow the same voice interaction human-to-human while the other person enters in your commands quickly and you just pay the kiosk at the end. They could have done this with very little investment in technology. Could improve the drive-thru experience too (my experience is they can't hear anything you say, I'll have to repeat myself 3x minimum, and chances are I won't be able to understand them if they ask me anything either).
When I visit Shake Shack, it's the one place I see that the kiosk is mandatory. But, at least they are iPads and decently designed. It's still very tap heavy and slow to enter simple customizations. The main thing they did right was put 6 of them out, so it's rare you have to wait for one because if you do have to, it's probably a long wait. It's also when one of them will step up to the register and start to help alleviate the line. The worst thing they did, was prompt for a tip at the self-service kiosk before you've seen your food or even found out if anyone is actually working back in the kitchen.
2022's conveyer belt, hadn't seen: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-automated-restaurant-...
No sooner did I hit post than I had to run. But on my way, I thought with what I wanted to edit my post, which was to clarify the current testing Taco Bell is doing in the drive through. But I assume wherever you do it, once it gets good enough, maybe you can move it into the restaurant. Like you say, labor savings, so they'd have to move it into the restaurant the moment they could get away with it.
