Artificially intelligent order processing system

Abstract

An improved speech-based/natural language point-of-sale customer order system which is useful for any business that interacts with customers through speech or sound. Despite the advances in speech recognition, currently available voice ordering interfaces have proven to be unintuitive and lack reliability. Voice recognition has so far proven to be inefficient in retail contexts, and therefore voice recognition has so far achieved a low level of usage penetration in the retail sector. The present invention facilitates the automated operation of the ordering function of a drive-through restaurant, fast food restaurant or other business establishment by replacing an employee or other means of capturing order data with an ordering system employing a highly accurate speech recognition component that is able to be trained to recognize a wide vocabulary of words, and associate tones and other metadata in a manner not previously achieved in speech-to-text systems.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 providing, to an order processing system, an audio stream of an order of a customer, wherein the order processing system executes on at least one processor and generates an order in a text format from the audio stream;   converting, using a speech-to-text processor of the order processing system, the audio stream into a text communication, wherein the text communication includes one or more words in a natural language;   providing the text communication to a natural language processor of the order processing system, the natural language processor trained on an artificial intelligence software to recognize meaning of words in the natural language;   determining, at the natural language processor, meaning of the one or more words in the text communication; and   incorporating into the order at least one word from the one or more words as at least one order item based on the meaning of the one or more words.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing the order to a display screen associated with a first processor in the text format, wherein the display screen is connected to a point-of-sale system that receives payment for the order.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving the audio stream at a second processor; and   wherein the order processing system is located in a cloud network, the first processor and the second processor are located at a location associated with the customer, and the order processing system is communicatively connected to the first processor and the second processor using a data connection.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving the audio stream at a second processor; and   wherein the order processing system, the first processor, and the second processor are located at a location associated with the customer and are communicatively connected using a data connection.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 training the natural language processor to recognize meaning of the words in the natural language using text communications of previous orders transcribed from audio streams from multiple customers.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 associating, at the order processing system, the at least one order item in the order with an order upgrade option;   generating, using a text-to-speech processor of the order processing system, an audio query that includes the order upgrade option; and   providing the audio query to a computing device configured to receive input from the customer.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 providing a second audio stream that includes an audio response of the customer to the order upgrade option in the audio query;   generating a second text communication from the audio response;   determining, using the natural language processor and at least one word in the second text communication, that the second text communication includes an upgrade to the at least one order item in the order; and   updating the order with the upgrade to the at least one order item.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 providing a second audio stream that includes an audio response of the customer to the order upgrade option in the audio query;   generating a second text communication from the audio response;   determining, using the natural language processor and at least one word in the second text communication, that the second text communication includes an additional order item; and   updating the order with the additional order item.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 providing a second audio stream that includes an audio response of the customer to the order upgrade option in the audio query;   generating a second text communication from the audio response; and   determining, using the natural language processor and at least one word in the second text communication, that the second text communication does not modify the order.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting, at the order processing system, an exception to the order;   deactivating, over a data connection, the order processing system in response to the exception; and   receiving instructions to modify the order from a computing device associated with a location of the customer.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 comparing the audio stream of the customer and the assembled order to identify an error between the audio stream of the customer and the assembled order;   updating the assembled order based on the error; and   transmitting the updated order to a point-of-sale system.   
     
     
         12 . A system, comprising:
 one or more memories configured to store an order processing system, the order processing system trained on an artificial intelligence program, audio streams and corresponding text streams associated with previous orders to generate an order in a text format from an audio stream; and   one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories and configured to cause the order processing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 receive the audio stream of the order of a customer; 
 convert the audio stream to a text communication, wherein the text communication includes one or more words in a natural language; 
 recognize meaning of the one or more words in the text communication; and 
 incorporate into the order at least one word from the one or more words as at least one order item based on the meaning of the one or more words. 
   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 a display coupled to the order processing system and configured to display the order in the text format; and   a point-of-sale system configured to receive payment for the displayed order.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the order processing system is located in a cloud network and the audio stream is received at a computing device coupled to a speaker at a location of the customer, and wherein the order processing system is communicatively connected to the computing device and a point-of-sale system with a network connection. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the order processing system, a computing device that receives the audio stream, and a point-of-sale system are located at a location associated with the customer and are communicatively connected using a data connection. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the order processing system is further configured to:
 associate the at least one order item in the order with an order upgrade option;   generate an audio query that includes the order upgrade option; and   provide the audio query to a computing device associated with the customer.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the order processing system is further configured to:
 receive a second audio stream that includes an audio response of the customer to the order upgrade option in the audio query;   generate a second text communication from the audio response;   determine a meaning of at least one word in the second text communication, wherein the meaning of the at least one word indicates that the second text communication includes an upgrade to the at least one order item in the order; and   updating the order with the upgrade to the at least one order item.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the order processing system is further configured to:
 receive a second audio stream that includes an audio response of the customer to the order upgrade option in the audio query;   generate a second text communication from the audio response;   determine, at least one word in the second text communication that includes an additional order item; and   update the order with the additional order item.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the order processing system is further configured to:
 receive a second audio stream that includes an audio response of the customer to the order upgrade option in the audio query;   generate a second text communication from the audio response; and   determine a meaning of at least one word in the second text communication, wherein the meaning of the at least one word indicates that the second text communication does not modify the order.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, that when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 providing, to an order processing system, an audio stream of an order;   converting, using a speech-to-text processor of the order processing system, the audio stream into a text communication, wherein the text communication includes one or more words in a natural language;   providing the text communication to a natural language processor of the order processing system, the natural language processor trained on past text communications associated with past orders to recognize meaning of words in the natural language;   determining, at the natural language processor, meaning of the one or more words in the text communication;   determining at least one order item from the meaning of the one or more words; and   incorporating into the order the at least one word based on the meaning of the one or more words, wherein the order is in the natural language.