AI is a divisive technology. Some of us cannot tolerate it and avoid it at all costs. Others are AI-curious, and interested in certain apps or features; Yet others still embrace it with enthusiasm, and use the technology for as many purposes as possible. Still, even though I’m aware of this AI spectrum, I’m struggling to understand who would actually want to link their Starbucks account to ChatGPT — so, naturally, I added my account.
Starbucks launched this collaboration on April 15 as a “natural, personal, and fun” way to discover new drinks to order. As someone who only orders plain coffee with cream, or maybe an iced espresso, perhaps this will finally be an opportunity to evolve my taste buds, and the artificial intelligence will recommend a new favorite? I’m too shy to ask baristas for recommendations, and I don’t trust my friends to have good taste. ChatGPT is really my only hope of finding a new coffee I can enjoy!
Integrating ChatGPIT and the Starbucks App Means Losing a Lot of Your Privacy
To get started, you’ll need the latest version of the Starbucks app as well as the ChatGPT app. You first open ChatGPT, go to “Apps”, find “Starbucks”, then click “Connect”. ChatGPT then presents you with some information about what data you agree to share (boring!), which includes “a summary of your recent context and intent within ChatGPT”. That’s a lot of data to ask for drink recommendations, and I’m not sure why it’s necessary. This appears to be the standard data agreement with other ChatGPT apps, but, again, why is so much data needed here? I understand that the app needs access to ChatGPT to work, as well as data generated from your requests for drinks, but in my view, Starbucks doesn’t really need a summary of any past ChatGPT usage to recommend me a coffee.
At that point, I also have the option to reference chats and memories to ChatGPT when sharing data with Starbucks. I’m looking for my next Starbucks order; Why No I share all my intimate chatgpt interactions with starbucks? At least it’s optional: If you leave the toggle disabled (the default setting), Starbucks won’t have access to Memories and Chats — only the summary above. ChatGPT also warns that by connecting the Starbucks app here, attackers can target my Starbucks data, or use the Starbucks app to access my ChatGPT data. exciting! It definitely seems worth it!
Again, it doesn’t seem like the Starbucks app integration is particularly special. When you do the same for other apps like Photoshop you are presented with the same splash screen. But I think it’s important to think about the privacy implications of any app integration with ChatGPT, especially because not all apps are created equal. Do you really want to give Starbucks access to your ChatGPT data, and vice versa? Want ChatGPT to know where your nearest Starbucks location is? All in all, and I can’t stress this enough, a generative AI recommendation for Starbucks drinks? And what are those recommendations anyway? Let’s find out.
ChatGPT Barista is being tested
Once you agree to the terms, you’re in. You can now start a ChatGPT conversation as usual, type @starbucks to pull up the Starbucks app and get fired up. My first query was to pick me up in the afternoon. It created a widget offering six different menu items, including “Iced Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino,” “Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew,” and “Nondairy Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew.” If I wanted, I could press the “Customize” option to adjust the ingredients in the order, and press the “Add to Cart” button to add the drink to my cart. Below the widget was a description of each drink recommendation, including things like taste and caffeine content.
After looking at the caffeine amounts listed, I decided to ask ChatGPT about the most likely caffeinated beverage option. Then, I was given six recommendations, but my first choice was: a Venti Blonde Roast, which the app said had about 315 milligrams of caffeine—Despite Starbucks’ website Claims are that the drink contains anywhere from 390 to 490 mg. That’s a big difference, The safe daily caffeine limit is typically listed at 400mg..
Next, I decided to see if Starbucks would recommend something with as much sugar as possible. It came back with another list, this time with the “Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino” taking the crown, packing 60 grams of sugar. (Starbucks website Confirms it for the grand size; Venti contains 78 grams.)
What do you think so far?
Sure, that’s a lot of sugar, but was it really as much sugar as Starbucks could give me? ChatGPT sensed my frustration and said, “If you’d like, I can prepare a custom order for you with the optimal amount of caffeine.” And Sugar at the same time.” Now we’re talking! ChatGPT returns with a step-by-step list for turning a Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino into “a monster:”
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Venti Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino Mixed Drink
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Add Two to three shots of espresso (pour it on top affogato style if you want)
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Add Extra Caramel Syrup Pump
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Add Mocha Sauce (more sugar + to taste)
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Add Extra Caramel Drizzle
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Keep Whipped Cream + Crunch Topping
The bot said the modifications would increase the sugar by 70 to 90 grams, depending on how “aggressive” I am, while the caffeine would drop from 85 milligrams to a range of 200 to 300 milligrams.
I asked Chatgpt to make the worst drink for me
When ChatGPT asked if I would like to customize my custom drink it would still be Taste Well, instead of like “liquid candy slush”, I said “Actually, can you make it worse?” And it gave me instructions on how to “break” the drink, and offered a list of changes to make it “less refreshing, more dense and overwhelming,” including lots of syrup, sauce, more chocolate chips, and lighter ice. it gave me the option to make it even worse, And I agreed. ChatGPT took another opportunity to “deliberately ruin it”. It said its new blend, with “chocolate chips suspended in syrupy cement” was designed to taste like “burnt coffee trying to escape a caramel milkshake”. Perfection.
You can’t actually order your drink with ChatGPT
I asked the bot how I could order it, and, to my surprise, it only recommended how to order it in person or on the Starbucks app — not through ChatGPAT. At this point, I realized that ChatGPT had stopped giving me ordering options, and instead only opted for text-based recommendations. When I asked why, she told me I couldn’t ask her to order in the app. When I told him he had previously given me the option (and noted that an ad for this feature indicated I could order in the app), ChatGPT said, “That ad is a bit misleading.” Ok. Even after going back to a previous chat that still had the ordering widget, either the widget would be “expired”, or I would be taken to the store locator but not allowed to choose a location. I chalked it up to ChatGPT and that left me with a weak model with less anglicit capabilities.
But it doesn’t matter, because there’s no way I can order this monstrous thing on the app or in person. the whole point was Avoid Human contact at last. I now have no new coffee orders left, a chatbot that is gaslighting me, and severe caffeine withdrawal. Maybe ChatGPT has some advice on how to deal with this.
