Hospitality in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Era

With the rise of Artificially Intelligent (AI) platforms, many operations in the hospitality industry have the opportunity to increase efficiency — while cutting out authenticity. But if you ask Hotel Industry leaders like Dr. Barry Lall, this simply will not be the case. Hotels, Dr. Lall explains, remain a business for people run by people.

It’s no secret that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is simplifying a lot of multistep tasks in our world today.  The hotel and hospitality industry is seeing an embrace of this notion, by simplifying day to day tasks in booking and other services.  While AI has already become a powerful tool for the hotel and hospitality industry, leaders in this area of business are firm in ensuring that these AI tools are only internal.  Dr. Bary Lall explains that utilizing AI in guest-facing strategies can quickly become a problem for any hotel brand.  When people stay at hotels, they are looking for simplicity with authenticity.  Just as safety and convenience are imperative at home, people expect the same out of their hotel stays.  It is a human presence that people are seeking when it comes to hospitality.  Without this, hotels would feel quite hollow; beyond branding and operations.  That’s why Dr. Lall is firm in the notion that hospitality is for people by people.  While AI may help simplify some tasks in the hotel industry, it’s important to keep people at center stage.