Foursquare’s new bot feeds you restaurant recommendations

The Dallas-based casual-dining operator said the chatbot will answer common customer queries, such as where to find the nearest TGI Fridays restaurant, and allow users to make reservations at select restaurants, a program that will be expanded. Later this fall, TGI Fridays will expand its online reservations capabilities and offer online orders via social media channels. OpenTable has been aggressive about integrating AI into its business. In 2023, it made its data accessible to ChatGPT, which enabled users to ask the chatbot for restaurant recommendations.

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• Other research has shown that LLMs can often be sycophantic, following a user’s lead wherever it goes as a result of the fine-tuning that is meant to make them more coherent, less offensive, and better at holding a conversation.
• TGI Fridays is also incentivizing the use of its smartphone app and Fridays.com website through the end of October by offering 20 percent off online orders with the code FRIDAYS20.
• Eichstaedt says the work also raises questions about how LLMs are being deployed and how they might influence and manipulate users.
• The Dallas-based casual-dining operator said the chatbot will answer common customer queries, such as where to find the nearest TGI Fridays restaurant, and allow users to make reservations at select restaurants, a program that will be expanded.
• The researchers found that the models modulated their answers when told they were taking a personality test—and sometimes when they were not explicitly told—offering responses that indicate more extroversion and agreeableness and less neuroticism.

The work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science in December. While it’s not clear exactly how it’s learning about your habits, the app does ask for location services to be enabled and your location history would obviously be a big factor in making recommendations. Chacko notes that Foursquare is uniquely positioned to provide these types of recommendations because of the huge amount of data Foursquare has. Foursquare is once again trying its hand at personalized restaurant recommendations.

Within it, you can book a table, redeem coupons, and find out about the restaurants within this small, local group (there’s about 10 of them). Sign up to receive texts from Restaurant Business on news and insights that matter to your brand. “We realized we need some mechanism to measure the ‘parameter headspace’ of these models,” he says. Chatbots are now a routine part of everyday life, even if artificial intelligence researchers are not always sure how the programs will behave.

• Chacko notes that Foursquare is uniquely positioned to provide these types of recommendations because of the huge amount of data Foursquare has.
• “Until just a millisecond ago, in evolutionary history, the only thing that talked to you was a human,” he says.
• Roof has a Master’s in Business Journalism from Columbia University.

PickMe, a bot for restaurant suggestions

Other research has shown that LLMs can often be sycophantic, following a user’s lead wherever it goes as a result of the fine-tuning that is meant to make them more coherent, less offensive, and better at holding a conversation. This can lead models to agree with unpleasant statements or even encourage harmful behaviors. The fact that models seemingly know when they are being tested and modify their behavior also has implications for AI safety, because it adds to evidence that AI can be duplicitous. The app draws on both your habits and — unsurprisingly — Foursquare’s data to make its suggestions.

«Our goal with Marsbot is to give you the answers before you even ask—just based on where you are and where you usually go,» Foursquare Product Manager Marissa Chacko writes on Foursquare’s blog. TGI Fridays is partnering with Dallas-based Conversable, which has worked with Wingstop and Pizza Hut to create conversational ordering platforms. The team plans to make PickMe work for more than just restaurants. So I’m not going to comb through the app and point out what’s right or wrong.

It is powered by software from Perplexity and OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Ron Ruggless’ areas of expertise include foodservice mergers, acquisitions, operations, supply chain, research and development and marketing. Katie Roof was a senior writer and video host at TechCrunch. She also co-hosted TechCrunch’s “Equity” podcast about tech finance.

The researchers found that the models modulated their answers when told they were taking a personality test—and sometimes when they were not explicitly told—offering responses that indicate more extroversion and agreeableness and less neuroticism. A new study shows that the large language models (LLMs) deliberately change their behavior when being probed—responding to questions designed to gauge personality traits with answers meant to appear as likeable or socially desirable as possible. The goal of the app is to provide recommendations that are both personalized and proactive — so rather than simply messaging the bot when you are looking for a dinner spot, the app will text you suggestions when you are near locations you may like. OpenTable says the bot will save customers time and will help restaurants capture more bookings by providing needed information fast.

The company launched a new app Tuesday that uses a chatbot to surface personalized restaurant recommendations. Called «Marsbot,» Foursquare is testing the app with iPhone users in San Francisco and New York City. Ron Ruggless serves as a senior editor for Informa Connect’s Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN.com) and Restaurant Hospitality (Restaurant-Hospitality.com) online and print platforms. He joined NRN in 1992 after working 10 years in various roles at the Dallas Times Herald newspaper, including restaurant critic, assistant business editor, food editor and lifestyle editor. He also edited several printings of the Zagat Dining Guide for Dallas-Fort Worth, and his articles and photographs have appeared in Food & Wine, Food Network and Self magazines.

Amplify your reach, spark real connections, and lead the innovation charge. Too much choice makes it harder to make a decision (a phenomenon that was detailed in “Modern Romance” from Aziz Ansari). So at the TechCrunch Disrupt SF Hackathon, a team of hackers developed PickMe, a Facebook-integrated chatbot that helps you decide which local restaurant to go to. Just message the bot with what you’re looking for, such as French restaurant, and it will text you back with a local suggestion.

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It «pays attention to your habits and learns about the places you go,» according to the App Store description. It will take some time before bots really hit the mainstream, but there are some shining examples of businesses in real need of them, right now. We simply expect to be able to get simple tasks done inside our messaging app, with a conversational approach.

According to the company, 54% of Americans research a restaurant before booking and spend an average of 21 minutes doing so. And 27% have given up on a booking because they couldn’t find the information they were looking for. Put your brand in front of 10,000+ tech and VC leaders across all three days of Disrupt 2025.