TECHNOLOGY
Is AI the Answer ?
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS EVOLVING BY THE DAY . WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR HOTELS ?
By DAVID EISEN
D
espite its best efforts , there remains more than a scintilla of skepticism around artificial intelligence or AI . But it ’ s not so much about the technology itself ; it ’ s how it will be deployed and its impact on the human race . It ’ s scary , it ’ s exciting , it ’ s bold , it ’ s uncertain , it ’ s here and it ’ s only growing .
Consider ChatGPT , the language modelbased chatbot that burst on the scene in late 2022 and became an instant source of curiosity , giving hope to procrastinating and duplicitous students worldwide . But its potential applications for the hotel industry are several : it can speed response rates to customer requests , provide customization , reduce certain customer service needs provided by humans , improve SEO — which can all lead to higher customer satisfaction rates and better experiences .
For instance , one practical application could be delivered through a hotel ’ s app , where guests can have access to local recommendations based on persona , such as restaurants and retail . Or , ChatGPT , like a virtual operator , can respond to customer inquiries , while continually learning and becoming smarter with each interaction .
AI may very well be a newish technology for the masses to experiment with , but its emergence stretches back to the mid-20th century , with the likes of Alan Turing , who was memorialized in the 2014 film “ The Imitation Game .” Since then , it ’ s matured , with the likes of Google and OpenAI carrying the torch . It ’ s no longer an
24 hotelsmag . com Jan / Feb 2024