Uber Eats has introduced an AI-powered cart assistant, designed to make building your grocery basket faster and simpler. Instead of manually searching for every item, users can type in a list, upload a screenshot or even snap a photo of a handwritten note or even a recipe. 

The AI then populates the cart automatically, factoring in availability, preferences and past purchases. Fewer taps, less scrolling, quicker checkout. It’s a first-of-its-kind tool that actually reads your lists and does the shopping legwork for you.

Coming just weeks after Amazon launched Lens in SA, Uber Eats’ AI feels like a move to grow market share in the growing grocery space dominated by Checkers Sixty60. But it doesn’t look like it’s coming to the warm food delivery side (yet?).

AI in the food and fast-food space is a mixed bag. McDonald’s famously experimented with AI-powered drive-thru ordering, but early versions struggled with accuracy and customer frustration, resulting in viral videos of confused AI order-takers. 

Wendy’s went the same route, while other US brands like White Castle and Jack in the Box have experimented with robots and automated kitchens for cooking and order handling. Some of these rollouts made headlines, for both innovation and hiccups, showing that AI in fast food isn’t always smooth sailing.

This isn’t AI replacing a human at a drive-through speaker or flipping your burgers. It’s positioned as a convenience layer, a tool that facilitates your experience rather than standing between you and a person. You remain in control, reviewing and editing your cart before checkout.

But there’s more to it than convenience. If widely adopted, this kind of assistant could become a powerful sourcing and behavioural learning tool. 

By analysing grocery lists, substitutions and buying patterns, Uber could gather valuable data about what people actually want, not just what they browse, but what they consistently buy. That insight could shape promotions, pricing strategies and even product availability.

Of course, that only happens if people use it. Adoption will determine whether this becomes a quiet feature update or a meaningful shift in how we shop.