In a strange turn of events, a British man discovered a clever way to enjoy free meals at McDonald’s for months, all thanks to ChatGPT. Relying on a little creativity and a few sneaky tricks, this simple trick has caught the attention of many who would never have imagined an AI-powered solution to their fast food cravings.
ChatGPT: More than just a helpful assistant
When most of us think Chat GPTwe think of it as a tool to help with things like answering questions, creating text, or coding and writing. It’s a versatile AI capable of helping with everything from creating recipes to offering financial advice. But here’s the twist: It can also help solve problems you might not expect — like getting free food.
ChatGPT is primarily known for its ability to produce written content and provide advice on a wide range of topics. It can even help developers write code in different programming languages or create images with DALL-E. While the possibilities are truly vast, his most unexpected talent came in an unusual scenario: helping a man get a free McDonald’s meal.
The trick behind free food
This man, a creative young Brit, was able to take advantage of a system set up at McDonald’s to collect customer feedback. Most people toss their receipt surveys aside without a second thought, but he saw an opportunity where others didn’t. Each McDonald’s receipt contains a unique code that can be used to access customer satisfaction surveys. The more complaints, the more likely you will receive compensation, usually in the form of free meal vouchers.
Here’s where the magic happened: Instead of just completing the survey himself, this business user turned to ChatGPT for help. He’ll ask the AI to draft a complaint about his experience — specifically about getting a subpar sandwich. The request was simple: “Write a complaint in less than 12,000 characters about a bad experience with a sandwich.”
With a few clicks, he had a complaint letter that sounded genuine enough to warrant a response. He will then copy and paste this text into the survey, submitting it under the unique code on his receipt. Macdonald‘s, wishing to address any negative feedback, will contact him with free meal vouchers as compensation.
If the complaint wasn’t detailed or convincing enough, he could always ask ChatGPT to rewrite it a bit to spice it up. A few small tweaks and the complaint was ready to go again. Over time, this clever strategy allowed him to collect dozens of free meals.
How did the scheme go undetected for so long?
It wasn’t until about a year later that McDonald’s finally caught on. The free food train came to an abrupt halt when a local McDonald’s began noticing an unusually high number of complaints from this particular customer. The restaurant even had posters put up encouraging patrons to leave positive reviews to boost the restaurant’s rating. Clearly, the franchise was trying to balance the damage caused by a suspected spike in negative reviews.
This cheeky tactic worked so well that the man was able to score several free meals over the course of several months—without even once paying for the sandwich. It wasn’t until he discussed the entire incident in a podcast that McDonald’s finally began to address the issue more seriously. His story, which began as a clever experiment, eventually gained wider attention.
A lesson in AI and ethics
While his use of ChatGPT to get free food seems entertaining and resourceful, it also raises questions about the ethical use of AI in everyday life. This story serves as a reminder that as advanced as AI has become, it is still a tool that can be used for both good and bad purposes. As with any technology, it is important to keep in mind how it is applied.
For many, the incident may be more about the creativity and resourcefulness behind the trick than ethical concerns. ChatGPT wasn’t designed to get you free meals at fast food joints, but with a little outside thought, it sure got the job done.
Finally, this is an interesting example of how people are finding new and innovative ways to use artificial intelligence. Whether you see it as clever ingenuity or exploiting a system, this story offers a light-hearted reminder of how technology can lead to sometimes unexpected and sometimes amusing results.
My name is Noah and I am a dedicated member of the “Jason Deegan” team. With my passion for technology, I try to bring you the latest and most exciting news from the world of high-tech.