New Delhi, March 14 -- You've probably been through that embarrassing scenario in which you give a child a gift and the brat grabs it from your hands and makes off with it in delight. Charming. But then a watchful parent quickly steps in and commands the kid to say "thank you" to the nice aunty.

It's a cringe-inducing moment from many points of view, including the kid's, I suppose. And yet, it's exactly the basis for a 2026 project just deployed at 500 Burger King outlets in the US. You've probably heard about Patty. She's the much-written-about AI assistant who lives in headsets worn by Burger King employees as part of a pilot project.

Miss Patty is powered by OpenAI and is responsible for giving instructions on meal prepping. Fine. It...