Uber Eats Introduces AI Enhancements for Menus, Food Images, and Customer Reviews
The menus on your next Uber Eats order may be enhanced through the use of generative AI. The food delivery platform is launching new features designed to assist businesses in advertising and communicating with customers. These features include AI-enhanced menu descriptions, food photos, and review summaries, as well as a live chat tool and payments for user-submitted photos.
The AI tools can generate descriptions for menu items and summarize customer reviews, quickly highlighting areas of the business that may need improvement. Uber Eats also mentions that it is leveraging AI to “detect and enhance low-quality food images” on menus. This can involve adjustments to lighting, resolution, and framing, or digitally re-plating food onto different plates or backgrounds. The example images shared by Uber Eats indicate that this feature might also utilize generative AI to modify the food itself, such as enlarging it or filling in gaps during the re-plating process.
For menu items lacking images, Uber Eats will now permit customers to upload a photo of their own order when leaving a review. This feature is rolling out globally and can be accessed by selecting the “add photos” option on the rate order screen. Customers in the US, UK, Canada, and Mexico may receive payments in the form of Uber in-app credits if their photos are published.
Additionally, Uber Eats is unveiling a new Live Order Chat feature, enabling businesses to contact customers directly to address any issues with orders prior to dispatch. Once an order is confirmed, merchants can initiate real-time conversations to clarify special requests, check dietary or allergy needs, or inform customers about out-of-stock items and discuss alternatives.
The user-uploaded images and Live Order Chat features could offer customers a clearer idea of what to expect from their orders before delivery. However, AI-generated and manipulated content can be unpredictable, and the reliability of these tools will only be determined once they start appearing on menus.
