The Role of Human Talents in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

IFTM Comments is a partnership between Macau News Agency and Macao Institute for Tourism Studies

By Soey Lei

As we have entered into the era of artificial intelligence (AI), today’s AI-based technologies are not only assisting in mass production factories but also becoming socially intelligent – they are now utilized to interact with customers in frontline services. While the heated debate on whether AI will replace human employees continues, research evidence has shown that AI does not always outperform humans, especially in contexts such as tourism and hospitality service settings where person-to-person contact and personalized experiences are essential.

Lei, Sut Ieng (Soey) is a lecturer at Macao Institute for Tourism Studies

A famous example is the first robot hotel in Japan which ended up replacing half of its robots with human staff. Some studies found customers still prefer human service in hospitality settings due to a number of reasons, such as the perception of humans as more effective communication partners, and the low perceived interaction quality and human sensitivity of service robots. Some studies also show that humans outperform service robots when it comes to building relationships and friendships with customers.

Nevertheless, technologies will remain important and continue to change our lives. While the application of AI and robotic technologies seems to be unavoidable, the role of technologies should be to assist rather than replace humans. Decision makers need to understand the limitations and weaknesses of these new technologies. Paying close attention to consumer perception and reaction to technology-based services on a continuous basis is key, and the goal should be to search for the most effective ways in which humans and AI can work together to create the best customer experiences. Some research works have already been initiated to investigate synergies between human workers and AI. For example, some recent research evidence shows that human-AI collaboration can increase productivity, particularly for managerial professionals; and that people seem to complete household tasks more efficiently and perceive themselves as more effective when collaborating with AI. As employees might feel threatened by AI, identifying the situations under which they feel most comfortable working with AI and the factors that potentially reduce their perceived threat will help smoothen management practices in the future.

The tourism and hospitality industry provides unique opportunities for individuals to showcase their people skills. At higher management levels, tourism and hospitality professionals’ abilities in critical thinking, strategic planning, resources integration, and service innovation will remain crucial and irreplaceable by AI. However, smart technologies will prevail when humans fail to meet customer expectations. Practitioners and students should review their performances, skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses on a regular basis and continuously seek opportunities for self-development. How should the hospitality workforce become more ‘human’? How should human sensitivity be further showcased in service settings so as to further exert the advantages of human intelligence in service delivery? How should service failures due to human errors be reduced to maximize the value of human resources? These are critical questions for practitioners, educators, and students to think about. At the end of the day, customers will turn away from poor service, regardless of whether it is provided by humans or technologies.