The Human Side of AI
There is a lot being said about artificial intelligence right now. It seems like every industry, every company and every conversation has found its way to AI. Hospitality is no different. We are exploring how these tools can help us work smarter, make better decisions and perhaps even take some of the routine work off our plates.
I have found AI to be a useful tool in my own work. I use it to run numbers, help organize information, automate routine tasks and occasionally help me write or edit something I have already written. Maybe my favorite use is simply inquiry. I love to ask, “What if?” or “What about?” and use AI to challenge an idea, look at something from another perspective or help me think through a possibility I may not have considered.
For me, that is what makes AI interesting. It is not replacing my thinking. It is helping me think.
Read Jeff’s full letter
As we explore these tools, we also have a responsibility to use them thoughtfully. AI should be used within our company’s policies and through the authorized tools and AI agents available to us. We also need to be thoughtful about the information we enter. Not everything that can be entered into an AI tool should be entered into one. Protecting our guests, our team members, our investors and our company means understanding what information is appropriate to share and using good judgment.
There is an important distinction we need to remember as we explore these tools. AI can process information, recognize patterns, generate ideas and help us become more efficient. What it cannot do is care for and about the person standing in front of it.
That matters tremendously in our business.
Hospitality is, at its heart, about people taking care of people. A guest may arrive tired after a long day of travel. A family may be celebrating something important. A team member may be having a difficult day but still showing up and taking care of others. These moments require something more than an answer generated from information. They require awareness, empathy, judgment and sometimes simply the willingness to stop and listen.
Our purpose is providing an exceptionally personal home away from home experience to all that we serve. The word personal is important. It means recognizing that every guest is different and that the best experience is not always the one that follows a script. It is the team member who notices that something is not quite right. It is the person who remembers a guest’s name. It is the manager who gives a little extra time to a team member who needs it. It is the decision to do what is right for someone even when there is no procedure telling you exactly what to do.
Those things cannot be automated.
For those of us working in our hotels, this distinction may be even more important. We operate around the clock, and much of what happens every day is immediate and physical. A guest needs something. A room needs attention. A team member needs help. A problem needs to be solved. Someone has to be there. Someone has to notice. Someone has to care.
I believe AI can become a valuable tool for our company. It can help us reduce administrative work, analyze information, ask better questions and create more time for the things that matter. But we should never confuse efficiency with hospitality.
The opportunity in front of us is to use machines to give us more capacity to be human.
As we continue to learn what AI can do for us, I hope we remain equally focused on what we can do that AI cannot. We can welcome. We can listen. We can notice. We can empathize. We can care for and about one another and our guests.
That is the human side of AI, and it may be the most important part of the conversation.
“The opportunity in front of us is to use machines to give us more capacity to be human.”
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