The first BAE Ventures AI in Hospitality & Travel event was outstanding! 🎊
While Europe is definitely playing catch-up when it comes to AI, there are industries like hospitality where European companies have every right to be global leaders, even in AI. Events like this make me believe that this will happen.
Here are my takeaways and reflections:
1️⃣ Generative AI is truly incredible. ✨ Seeing examples of what AI can do in terms of image and video generation is simply mind-blowing! Also Microsoft’s demo of co-pilot capabilities is equal parts amazing and scary 😨
2️⃣ But, GenAI is not a silver bullet. 🤔 When ChatGPT came out, everyone rushed to apply it to all kinds of problems. We’ve learned over the last 1.5 years that while GenAI is amazing at creating and summarising content (video, image, text), it’s also pretty bad at solving other problems. Let’s just say: don’t use Generative AI to do your dynamic pricing ;)
3️⃣ For now, the biggest gains from Generative AI seem to be in giving knowledge workers super powers. 💪 With huge staff shortages in hospitality and the struggle to attract top talent, this can really level the playing field
A very unique challenge for travel industry will be balancing the incredible power of GenAI vs people seeking authenticity when they travel. Yes AI can produce magnificent videos to promote destinations in a couple of minutes, but if those videos don’t match the real world people will see when they come at the destination, that will only lead to disappointment. Will this lead to travel industry adopting AI slower than other industries, or maybe relegating it only to back of the house tasks?
I don’t know the answer, and with AI developments moving so fast, who knows what the future holds. Either way, can’t wait for the next event from BAE Ventures to continue discussions and learning on the topic. Thank you for having me Henrique, Robert, Mafalda, Cristina and the whole team behind the event!
