by Georges Panayotis
In Ancient Greece, intelligence, known as noús was originally the organ that was used to mobilize our capacity to escape from a dangerous situation by elaborating a strategy and plan of action. This is precisely what artificial intelligence will have to do to help us take on the massive changes that are currently underway in our society. Our accommodations are becoming more ecological, more economical, more entertaining, friendlier and more competitive.
We are now faced with an infinite set of possibilities. The range of our products will be constantly redefined by the predictive model, which will enable us to anticipate and fulfil almost all of our customers' wishes. Hotel performance will also depend on brand strength and customer experience. This customer, who is increasingly present and whose requirements and needs are multiplying. This same client, now has a major influence on the e-reputation of our accommodations and expects an unforgettable experience: the memory that we offer him must mark his heart and mind.
In order to cope with these inevitable developments, it will be necessary to reinvest in human resources and transform the organisational structures and missions, but also rethink reception and provide services. In short, constantly redefining service, which is nothing more than the interaction between clients, staff and physical support.
By putting people back at the heart of the company, by valuing its missions, skills, motivations, know-how and enthusiasm we will progress in providing the service. So far we have invested in training our employees' brains, in learning, in execution, in transmission, in management. Their hearts must now also be educated and we must help them develop their humanity.
At the headquarters of our companies, we need great strategists, but also great managers to make decisions on a daily basis, because in our business, one cannot do without the other. The right balance between operational staff, knowledge and power is the key to the success of our business. It is also in these areas that the desired and announced breakthrough must be achieved.
There is one thing that artificial intelligence will probably never be able to match. The Greeks called it phantasia: our exceptional ability to dream, imagine, enjoy, improvise, to take an opposing position… in short, to create the conditions for progress. By combining human intelligence and artificial intelligence, we will enable our industry to enrich its soul, avoid the disasters that await us and return to prosperity. It is this right balance between intelligence, noùs and phantasia that will determine our ability to make dreams come true.
