Artificial intelligence seems incompetent in hospitality
At the recent Meetings Star Award competition, I was surprised by one of the award recipients who asked me, “Won’t artificial intelligence replace what you are doing in fifteen years?” Of course, I replied intuitively, keeping my cards close to my chest, deciding to pen down my thoughts instead.
What came to my mind first was how I would feel in those fully digitalised Japanese sleeping capsules. I have stayed in similar German high-tech copies, experiencing a claustrophobic and scary stay. Needless to say, this is the explanation of a seasoned boomer. Regardless, artificial intelligence seems incompetent in hospitality, authenticity and all the rest that makes our industry genuine.
Events can't be faked
As an event organiser, I strive for originality, creativity, and even surprise, as I wish to create unique and unforgettable experiences that thrill attendees and exceed expectations.
It is becoming ever harder to differentiate between original work and AI-powered texts. Yet, a trained eye can still notice the difference.
In my defence, events are the last bulwark against the fake world we are habitating. Perhaps even the last defence of democracy, free from algorithms and paradigms. At our event, Conventa 42° North, Colja Dams, an industry legend, emphasised that “Events can’t be faked”. That remains the core of our industry. No wonder Colja Dams heralds a new golden era of the industry. Emotions such as joy, happiness and a buzzing atmosphere, cannot be faked, nor can anyone replace the amazement of attendees. No AI tool can replicate the sentiment when attendees belong to a community or share moments and satisfaction when an event meets or exceeds their expectations. How lucky I have been to have experienced this countless times at events. This joy stems from experiencing the surroundings with the seven senses. Just consider the legendary smell of vintage meeting halls. The smells and energy at events are addictive. These experiences make my “job” my vocation.
Hence, our “obsolete”, analogue system of evaluating hotels with the help of our hidden guest assessors will continue adhering to our model, which comprises 681 criteria.
When conducting evaluations, our hidden guest assessors uncover many facets that photos or AI-generated texts fail to show on the website. Recently, I stayed in a hotel whose website claimed each room had a private sauna. What a unique hotel, I thought to myself. After arriving at the hotel, we learned the hotel only had two saunas for all guests. Indeed, booking algorithms tend to overlook, retouch, and beautify reality. Anyone who has ever been disappointed after arriving at their dream apartment booked through one of the popular booking platforms knows this sentiment.
Instead of hollow AI-written sentences, our hidden guest assessors provide in-depth insight into a hotel, unveiling their experiences transparently. They enrich their evaluation with original, first-hand insight available to anyone on Kongres Magazine’s website. The biggest reward for our assessors’ work is when an event organiser expresses their gratitude, saying we did the hard work for them and eased their selection of an event venue, helping them pull off an excellent event.
Therefore, artificial intelligence (at least for now) will not replace Meetings Star’s hidden guest assessors. However, it is already helping us foresee trends and garner and analyse statistical data on-site.
Here are a few reasons why I believe human intelligence still has an edge over AI:
- The Meetings Star Award is based on human judgment: Hidden guest assessors are experts with comprehensive knowledge. They are adept at judging subjective elements, including aesthetics, harmony, and creativity, combined with the technical side and quality of services. Artificial intelligence still cannot comprehend these elements.
- An event is an experiential and emotional experience: Artificial intelligence can recognise patterns, but it cannot experience the ambience, taste the delicious gastronomy or recognise the staff’s professionalism and decorum.
- Artistic and creative aspect: Event organising is a creative process that includes creative minds with specific styles and often outlandish ideas. Artificial intelligence prefers mediocrity over authentic human creativity.
- Event organisers trust colleagues more than algorithms: In the Kongres Barometer study, word of mouth was selected as the most trustworthy marketing method.
If the Meetings Star Award competition were powered by artificial intelligence based on algorithms, we would risk losing our credibility and exclusivity. As the founders, we want venues and destinations to be evaluated by experts with a trove of experiences and know-how, not a machine programmed to deceive.
We will continue nurturing the human heart and soul of the Meetings Star Award competition. This year’s award ceremony in Cankarjev dom proved we are on the right path.
We invite you to see this year’s finalists and winners at https://meetings-star.eu/.
