By Dr. Reza Etemad-Sajadi and Dr. Meng-Mei Chen
In the hospitality industry, there are several opportunities for AI integration (concierge robots, chatbots/virtual assistants, voice recognition, predictive maintenance energy efficiency, reducing food waste, targeted marketing, etc.). While AI is revolutionizing industry and our society, emotional intelligence remains indispensable for interacting with users/customers.
As companies and their competitors will all have access to AI more or less at the same period, the difference will be on human connection with guests. The role of employees is undergoing a transformation, shifting toward more interpersonal and experience-driven responsibilities. Rather than just providing service, they now act as guides, helping customers navigate technology, and generating human connection with them. This change calls for a diverse skill set (strong digital fluency, the ability to educate customers effectively, and exceptional customer service expertise). Beyond functionality, employees also bring warmth and personality to interactions, fostering genuine connections and ensuring the human touch remains at the heart of the customer experience.
Therefore, AI can give the opportunity of enhancing operational efficiency and human-centric service quality. That said, several challenges and ethical issues must be carefully considered for its integration to ensure a secure guest journey.
In the context of service delivery, the following ethical issues must be considered:
- Replacement: How does AI affect the replacement of roles traditionally performed by humans? We should prioritize the use of AI technologies that enhance human capabilities and well-being rather than replacing them outright.
- Trust: Building and maintaining trust is fundamental for the successful adoption and acceptance of AI technologies by users.
- Privacy and data protection: Users should ensure that their personal data is handled with the utmost confidentiality and that they provide informed consent before any data collection or usage.
- Autonomy: To what extent can a machine make decisions without human control?
- Responsibility: If a machine responds to customer requests in real-time, who is responsible in case of a failure?
- Establishing social connections: Integrating social cues into AI systems can enhance communication, user experience, and overall effectiveness, fostering a sense of connection between users and the technology they interact with.
Humans are social animals. One of the fundamental elements of well-being is good social relationships. However, many people moved to cities or even foreign countries to pursue a better quality of life but left their social support system at home. The long working hours and the blurred boundaries between work and life reduce the opportunity for socializing with friends and family. Furthermore, technology sometimes creates the wrong perception of self-independence at the cost of human interactions. The frictionless lifestyle eliminates the serendipity of human interaction. All these social changes deprived the opportunities for developing and sustaining good relationships. Yet, visionary thought leaders recognize the crucial importance of human connections in well-being and aim to turn their businesses into the social fabric. These leaders are not satisfied with transactional relationships but go after relational relationships through the human touch.
What is human touch? An X post from a guest at W Hotel in Osaka went viral in 2024. The guest’s son left his blue Tomica GT-R police car in the hotel. A few days later, the kid received his car with a note, “Thank you for staying at W Hotel Osaka. We towed your car from Osaka to your place. Should you find any problem with your vehicle, please get in touch with our maintenance team“1. When AI and technology take over repetitive tasks, employees are free to deliver human magic that resonates with humans.
Jumbo supermarket chain in the Netherlands has introduced “chatty checkouts” to help customers feel less lonely. Customers can chat with a cashier or others in the queue. In addition, the supermarket chain has a “chat corner” in its stores where people can meet and talk with customers and volunteers. Similarly, Seven Seas Cruises has social hostesses to run the solo travelers social group. These social hostesses are icebreakers who look after solo travelers by hosting events and social activities. Solo travelers cherish their independence but also value meeting new people and interacting with like-minded people2.
When companies understand the positive impact of human interactions on well-being, they stand out by offering human touch to customers and employees. The cover page of the Harvard Business Review November-December 2024 issue is “We are still lonely at work.” Lonely employees have lower productivity, worse performance, and higher intention to quit. In the age of AI, companies still need an engaging and productive workforce. Companies can harness human interactions to recruit, engage, and retain talents. Building slack into the workflow and incorporating socializing into the work can nurture social connections at the workplace. For example, having a few minutes of chat to catch up with each other in a meeting or hosting happy hour can set the stage for more human interactions.
While the AI buzz may fade away, AI is here to stay. When every business is exploring opportunities offerd by AI, progressive business leaders differentiate from their peers by offering human touch resonating with their customers and employees. It is time to define human touch and implement a human touch strategy.
Dr. Reza Etemad-Sajadi
Dr. Meng-Mei Chen
