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Food

24th Dec 2016

KFC is letting robots scan your face and tell you what to order

Would you try it, or would you chicken out?

JOE

As is the case with pretty much any fast food outlet, plenty of us have our usual order when it comes to Kentucky Fried Chicken.

But if you sometimes struggle to make your mind up between Original Recipe Chicken, Zinger Tower Burgers or the recent Christmas special, the restaurant chain is bringing in robots to take out the element of choice.

According to TechCrunch, KFC is poised to trial face-recognition robots, which will scan your face and recommend an order for you on that basis.

Customers in China will be the first to take advantage of the software, and the company has not given any indication as to when or whether it will arrive in the UK.

The technology, from Chinese company Baidu, is also reportedly capable of remembering your face and your previous order, which is good news if you’re a creature of habit.

The factors at play are relatively rudimentary at present, with Baidu revealing that recommendations will be made based on age, gender and (the technology’s interpretation of your) mood.

Good news if you struggle to make decisions, but it feels like there is some capacity for people to take issue with the idea that age and gender should factor into what you ought to eat.

Still, it’s just a recommendation. You can always ignore the technology and just order the same thing you always do – no one’s stopping you.