---
title: "Hi Auto Debuts New AI Voice Cloning Feature at Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/d054cdc5-2e35-4629-8510-5bf592d9ed09
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20231213_hi_auto_debuts_new_ai_voice_cloning_feature_at_lees_famous_recipe_chicken.html
category: "Chicken"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Chicken"
topics: ["Development & multi-unit","Technology"]
published: 2023-12-13T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T20:02:25.843Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1504674900247-0877df9cc836?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Hi Auto Debuts New AI Voice Cloning Feature at Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken

**TL;DR:** Hi Auto debuted its AI voice-cloning feature at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken, providing a personalized ordering experience. The feature will be tested in select Ohio drive-thru locations, using the voice of sports broadcaster Keith Byars.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2023-12-13. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20231213_hi_auto_debuts_new_ai_voice_cloning_feature_at_lees_famous_recipe_chicken.html).*

## Story

This feature provides drive-thru customers with a more personalized and novel ordering experience.

Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken, an early adopter of Hi Auto’s drive-thru voice AI ordering technology, plans to launch the new voice cloning feature as a test in its select Ohio drive-thru locations. Guests who visit Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken Ohio locations will be greeted with the voice of sports broadcaster and former NFL player Keith Byars. Byars grew up in Ohio and went on to play football at Ohio State.

In 2000 Keith was inducted into the Ohio State Hall of Fame and in 2020 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Byers proceeded to play in the National Football League for 13 seasons, playing for teams including Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets. Currently, Byars hosts "The Keith Byars Show” which can be heard on ESPN 1410 WING-AM in Dayton, Ohio.

“Lee's has been blessed to partner with Hi Auto since December of 2020, utilizing their AI voice recognition technology to help our employees and restaurants through the pandemic. We look forward to implementing their latest innovation to make our customer's drive-thru experience the most unique experience in the Dayton market,” said Lee’s Famous Recipe® Chicken Owner and Operator Chuck Doran. "We’ve partnered with Keith Byars since his radio program launched 2018.

The integrity, quality and excellence Keith brought to the football field and continues to bring to his broadcasts is what we strive to provide every customer that visits Lee’s. This is just one more step in that quest.”

"Three years ago, Lee's embarked on a pioneering journey with Hi Auto, leveraging their cutting-edge artificial intelligence for our drive-thru orders, marking a milestone in operational efficiency and customer service," said Ryan Weaver, CEO of Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken. "This collaboration not only enhanced our labor efficiency by saving approximately 5-6 hours daily, but also significantly improved order consistency and upselling conversions."

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- QSR (sector)
- partnership (topic)
- ohio (location)
- ai technology (topic)
- Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken (company)
- qsr innovation (topic)
- Ryan Weaver (person)
- drive-thru ordering (topic)
- Hi Auto (company)
- Chuck Doran (person)
- Keith Byars (person)

---
Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20231213_hi_auto_debuts_new_ai_voice_cloning_feature_at_lees_famous_recipe_chicken.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/d054cdc5-2e35-4629-8510-5bf592d9ed09).