Tomorrow's Hospitality A-Z – Navigating the future

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Read time: 5 minutes

Hospitality businesses are increasingly embedding artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations, but the efficiency and insights offered by AI do not come without risks.

Anticipating preferences and services for hotel guests

Machine learning can identify and analyze guests’ preferences and interests and give them tailor-made recommendations. Algorithms can organize large volumes of customer data (including biometric data) to draw conclusions about, for example, a customer’s go-to drink or room preference. Identifying these partialities can enhance the customer experience and ultimately strengthen sales.

Many of these AI systems (particularly in the biometric and emotion markets) are in the early development stages. If these tools are not appropriately developed and trained with a high-quality data set, there is a significant risk of profiling, bias and inaccuracy. Biometric data is particularly sensitive and falls under the General Data Protection Regulation’s (GDPR) definition of “special category data.” The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has warned that it will investigate organizations that fail to act responsibly when deploying biometric and emotional analysis technologies.

Key takeaways
  • AI provides insight into guests’ preferences, but results may be inaccurate or discriminatory.
  • Dynamic pricing may boost revenue, but regulators are wary about potential consumer harm.
  • Self-learning AI can root out fake social media reviews, but EU rules to govern its use are not finalized yet.
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