By Ahmed Mahmoud
AI technology was first introduced and presented at the Dartmouth conference in 1956. At that time, hotel businesses had not yet realized the importance of AI technology in hotel business and operations due to its lack of versatility and simple underdevelopment.
Chat GPT is a newly launched AI chatbot that was launched in November 2022 and attracted one million users soon after its launch. Since then, it has taken the world by storm with its remarkable use.
Chat GPT It stands for “Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer.” Chat GPT has been making headlines since the day it was launched due to the tasks that it is capable of performing. It gives you answers to every question of yours, such as how to plan a party, complete your school or college assignments, write code, etc. In fact, what is startling is the fact that it has already shown its power by surpassing the law bar exam and also tackling Google’s coding test.
It is also powered by large amounts of data and computing techniques to make predictions and string words together in a meaningful way. They not only tap into a vast amount of vocabulary and information, but also understand words in context. This helps them mimic speech patterns while displaying encyclopaedical knowledge.
Forward to now, and after ChatGPT launched, the interest in AI has grown uncontrollably and has been applied liberally in various industries, especially the tourism and hospitality industry. How does AI technology fit into the spectrum of hotel tech in reality? Can AI possibly replace humans completely in the hotel sector?
We all understand that the core elements of AI technology are machine learning and big data. a few examples of AI in our daily life that we might not recognize as Siri, Alexa, email spam filters, Netflix’s movie recommendations, etc.
What is ChatGPT all About?
ChatGPT is a powerful conversational AI platform developed by OpenAI. It is capable of understanding conversations and generating human-like responses, It is a large language model chatbot developed by OpenAI based on GPT-3.5. It has a remarkable ability to interact in conversational dialogue form and provide responses that can appear surprisingly human. Simply put, it’s a revolutionary technology because it’s trained to learn what humans mean when they ask a question.
How ChatGPT is Different?
ChatGPT is, however, not programmed to give bespoke answers and has no human-intervening education like traditional chatbots. As a result, ChatGPT can create more natural and informative conversations.
It is trained on a massive amount of text data and has a deep understanding of human natural language. This gives it the capability to generate human-like texts, in a very wide range of industries and fields—from content generation, to help centres to eCommerce and software development.
How Will ChatGPT Impact the Hospitality Industry?
When thinking about this question, we asked our experts, but of course, we had to ask ChatGPT too. Here’s what ChatGPT had to say:
“As a language model, I don’t have the ability to impact any industry directly. However, I can provide information and answer questions about the hospitality industry, which may be useful to those who work in or are interested in this field.
For example, I can explain different aspects of the industry, such as types of accommodations, trends and challenges, or strategies for improving customer service. I can also help with language-related tasks, such as translating or writing marketing materials. If you have any specific questions about the hospitality industry, I’d be happy to help.
So in summary, AI won’t revolutionize the hospitality industry. However, it will be able to help reduce the manual work associated with a number of tasks.
Can ChatGPT Replace the ‘Human Touch and Interaction with the Guest’?
With chatbots being introduced in customer service environments globally over the last 6–7 years, we did not see a reduction in human customer service representatives but rather an opportunity to create a better customer experience.
a more human-like element, and responses are no longer limited to a pre-defined set of responses. This is what makes ChatGPT cultivate a more natural flow of conversation.
Traditionally, a customer service representative was still necessary. This was to understand and clarify complex questions or fulfil the desire for a “human touch,” regardless of waiting time. Hospitality is a very human-centric industry. As a result, we do not expect ChatGPT to take the place of a human just yet.
What ChatGPT Can Do for Hoteliers?
One of the biggest challenges in the hotel industry is providing personalized service to guests. Every guest is different and has their own unique needs and preferences. In the past, the hotel staff had to rely on their own intuition and experience to provide personalized service. With ChatGPT, hotels will be able to use natural language processing to understand the specific needs of each guest and provide tailored service.
To mention a few, we believe it will affect the way people look for hotels, it will help guests by ranking hotels based on popularity; and it will provide a more direct narrative on how the user should book hotels.
In the future, ChatGPT is likely to have a big impact on a number of roles across industries. The ability to almost instantly have information at your fingertips in conversational form is likely to impact how people search for and gather information. It will also help to automate many manual or time-consuming tasks.
The Impact of ChatGPT on Guest Communication, Engagement and Experience
“For example, imagine a guest traveling with a baby and needing a room with a crib. In the past, the guest would have to call the hotel and request a crib. With ChatGPT, the hotel could use natural language processing to understand the guest’s request and automatically book a room with a crib. This not only saves the guest time but also ensures that their needs are met.”
From the above example, ChatGPT can help improve the guest experience by providing personalized recommendations. By using natural language processing, ChatGPT can understand a guest’s preferences and provide tailored recommendations for things to do, places to eat, and more. This will help guests make the most of their trip and create a more enjoyable experience.
There is a big percentage of people who like getting instant answers. As this technology is adopted, the expectations surrounding instant service will increase. The accuracy and possibilities for chatbot functionality are huge. This will also reduce manual and time-consuming customer service tasks and free staff up for other, more impactful tasks.
With ChatGPT, hotels will be able to quickly and accurately answer guests’ questions about their services, amenities, and the local area. This will not only help guests plan their trip but also build trust and loyalty.
The Impact of ChatGPT on Hotel Digital Marketing
The hotel digital marketing process involves using a variety of digital channels to reach potential customers and promote your hotel’s services. This can include creating and managing a website, using search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, utilizing social media, developing email campaigns, and creating content to reach potential customers. Additionally, hotels can use data analytics to track customer behavior and optimize their marketing strategies. By leveraging digital marketing, hotels can reach more customers and increase their bookings.
All you need to do is just chat with ChatGPT about any of those topics, it will do the work for you easy and simple.
Conclusion
In short, AI technology exists in various shapes and forms in the hospitality industry. AI is no longer a trend; it has become a part of industry operations. This technology has been cleverly integrated into numerous hospitality management solutions on the market.
ChatGPT is still in its testing phase, but the adoption of AI in a number of different roles and industries will be fast. Now is a great time to start becoming more familiar with the technology to understand how it can help add to your hotel’s offerings, make processes more efficient, and improve your guests’ experience.
It is important to remember, however, that technology can be applied differently in each business. Hoteliers need to stay alert and keep a close eye on tech such as ChatGPT, its development and use cases, and explore where it can add value to their guests and business. Overall, this is not a time to push back, fight, or ignore. This technology is here now, and you should make the best and most use of it to your and your guests’ advantage.
In conclusion, ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize the hotel industry. By providing personalized service, quick and accurate information, and tailored recommendations, ChatGPT will help hotels provide excellent customer service and build trust and loyalty with their guests. As the hotel industry continues to evolve and become more competitive, ChatGPT will be an invaluable tool for businesses looking to stay ahead of the curve. With more and more people travelling in the future, the implementation of ChatGPT will make the hotel industry more efficient and adaptable to the ever-changing demands of the customer.
