AI is often derided as something that has made the workplace so robotic that job descriptions for “storytellers” are exploding and CEOs are looking for human intelligence to counteract its effects. As companies look to keep their identity while implementing new AI uses, there’s one industry above all that arguably requires the most human interaction: hospitality. And now, the industry is looking to implement AI while keeping that personal touch.
In an industry built on hospitality, the worry that artificial intelligence turns guest interactions into something cold and transactional is understandable. But the executives actually deploying it tell a different story.
“AI is not changing what we do in hospitality,” said Julie Linn Teigland, global vice chair of alliances and ecosystems at EY, speaking on a panel entitled “AI and the Tech Shifts Shaping the Next Era” at Mews Unfold, Amsterdam. “It’s changing what we can imagine.”
What the hotel industry is imagining, it turns out, looks less like a robot at the front desk and more like a staff member who finally has time to look a guest in the eye. And as a result, Teigland argued, it will make sure every staff member has the bandwidth to actually cater to every individual guest, making every hotel experience one you’d typically only reserve for luxury stays.
