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How Merci Uses AI

Last updated October 9, 2026

Merci uses AI for some jobs and plain rules for others. This page lists every place AI is used, what it sees, and whether a person checks the result. Merci never uses your data to train AI models.

Where AI is used

All of these use Claude, made by Anthropic. Each reads what you or your team give it and hands back text.

• Reading catering orders. Order sheets from MONKEY (including ezCater orders delivered through it) and Foodja are read by fixed rules, with no AI, whenever their item totals add up to the printed subtotal. Every other order email or PDF, and any sheet the rules aren't sure of, is read by AI into an order: the customer, date, time, headcount and items. The whole email goes to the AI, including names, addresses and phone numbers in it. Orders it reads clearly go straight onto the orders page and the kitchen board. Orders it isn't sure about wait for a manager, and so does every change or cancellation a customer emails directly. When an ordering platform sends an update under the same order number, the update replaces the earlier version automatically.
• Importing your recipe book. A spreadsheet with clear columns (item, quantity, unit, ingredient) is read by fixed rules, with no AI. Any other book, such as a PDF or photos of recipe cards, is read by AI into recipe cards. You can edit any card afterwards.
• Reading staff schedules. A spreadsheet with one shift per row (date, start, end) is read by fixed rules, with no AI. Any other schedule that is uploaded or emailed in, such as a PDF, photo or weekly grid, is read by AI for the names and shifts. The math done with those shifts afterwards is plain rules.
• Reading photos of the whiteboard and sales reports. When a manager photographs a sales board or deployment board, or a sales report is emailed in, AI reads the first names and numbers on it. A manager can correct any reading. These numbers feed the performance ranking described below.
• Reading guest reviews. When a manager uploads reviews, AI reads them and works out which team member a review names, if any. Reviewer names and review text go to the AI.
• Counting in task photos. When a job asks for a count, such as how many pans are ready, AI counts what is in the photo. If it is sure the count is short, it asks the crew member before the job closes. The photo can include people.
• Describing a camera clip. When a clip a manager asked for arrives, and whenever a manager taps "Ask Merci to Look", AI looks at a few frames and writes a short description. It is told never to guess who anyone is, or their age, race or intent.
• Sorting an upload. When someone drops a file into Merci, AI looks at it to tell what it is, such as a schedule, a sales board or an order. When it isn't sure, it asks the person.
• Changing how labels print. When a manager tells Merci in plain words how labels should look, AI turns the request into label settings. Allergy and warning callouts always print; she won't remove them.
• Chatting with Merci. The chat on Merci's pages, the kitchen board and the Alexa skill are answered by AI. On the board, customer names are shortened to a first name and initial before anything is sent.
• The "try it with one order" page. When a visitor pastes or attaches one order at merciapp.net/try, AI reads it the same way it reads a kitchen's orders, and the page shows back what it found. Nothing from that page is saved: no kitchen, no account, no copy of the email. The printed label sheet it offers is kept in memory for a few minutes so it can be opened, then dropped.
• Confirming a possible fall on camera. See the store box section below.

The store box

• Seeing people runs on the box itself. The camera software spots people and body positions on the box in your store. No cloud AI is involved, and none of it identifies anyone.
• Possible falls. When the box sees someone go from standing to lying down, it sends cropped frames to Claude to check. If Claude agrees, or can't be reached and the person has been down a long while, the box files a draft incident. A draft is a flag, not a verdict: a manager confirms or dismisses it.
• Tables. Whether a table is taken comes from the box's own person detection, with no cloud AI. After guests leave, cropped pictures of the table go to Claude to tell whether it's ready or needs bussing.
• Spills. When a still from a camera changes, Claude looks for a spill. If it finds one, the box files a draft incident for a manager to confirm or dismiss.

Decisions about your team

Merci ranks staff for scheduling with a fixed formula: 70% sales per guest, 20% availability and 10% guest feedback. AI is involved in two of those inputs. Sales per guest comes from AI reading whiteboard photos, and guest feedback includes reviews AI has matched to a team member. Availability is entered by managers. Managers can correct board readings, and the ranking is advice: Merci does not build or post schedules, and no AI writes up, disciplines or fires anyone.

Where AI is not used

• Reading MONKEY and Foodja order sheets whose totals add up
• Reading spreadsheet schedules and recipe books with clear columns
• Matching a customer's change or cancellation to the right order
• Prep amounts, the cook's list, labels and printed sheets
• Sign-in, PINs and passwords
• The audit log, its seal and the footage checks
• Staffing math and the ranking formula itself
• The lobby light, the camera finder and the storage guard on the store box

Voice and audio

• Merci does not record audio.
• Merci's spoken voice. Merci's voice is an AI voice from ElevenLabs. It reads the film, the tour and the books, and, if your kitchen turns on her full voice, her live replies. The text she speaks goes to ElevenLabs; it can include order details. With her full voice off, live replies use your device's built-in voice.
• Talking to the board. Voice input on the kitchen board uses your browser's own speech recognition, which your browser maker, such as Google or Apple, may process. Merci receives only the text.
• Alexa. If you use the Alexa skill, Amazon handles the speech. Merci receives only the text.

What AI never does in Merci

• It never recognizes faces or names anyone from video.
• It never acts on a change or cancellation a customer emails directly. A manager decides.
• It never confirms an incident. A person does.

Questions

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