Understanding ChatGPT and Hospitality Apps (Part One)

Surprisingly, in less than one week this past year, the artificial intelligence (AI) application ChatGPT reached one million users. In two months, it attracted more than 100 million followers, making it the world's fastest-growing consumer application ever. By comparison, it took YouTube four years and one month to equal that level of enrollment; Facebook, 4.5 years; Netflix, 3.5 years; and mobile phones, over 16 years to reach the 100 million user threshold, per visualcapitalist.com.

With its explosive growth, ChatGPT has affected numerous industries, including hospitality businesses. ChatGPT is a unique form of generative AI that can produce a variety of content types, including text, images, audio, graphics, music, and more. ChatGPT employs simple user interfaces to rapidly generate high-end outcomes. While initial applications tended to focus almost exclusively on marketing-related functions, this application has evolved into an unlimited number of potential functions, including hotel amenities, restaurant menu offerings, productivity improvement strategies, and revenue enhancements.

Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, has existed for years. Artificial intelligence is a field of computer science that focuses on training computer systems to use a process or set of rules, called algorithms, to perform tasks normally performed by humans. While generative AI is a broader concept, encompassing various models and techniques, ChatGPT is a specific implementation focused on conversational interactions. ChatGPT employs a transformer-based neural network architecture to generate responses based on the input it receives. It can understand and generate coherent and contextually relevant responses, making it suitable for chatbot applications. In this article there are ChatGPT examples that the author developed to illustrate the remarkable capabilities of the technology.

At its core, ChatGPT is just a simple chatbot in which the user asks a question and quickly receives a response. Unlike a search engine that provides an array of possible correct responses, ChatGPT answers the query directly. ChatGPT is available through any web browser (openAI.com). AI in the hospitality industry can be used for various purposes, such as guest interactions, room and menu suggestions, staff scheduling, marketing automation, and data analytics. A simplistic hotel example includes identifying, selecting, and securing a guestroom reservation. A brief example of ChatGPT in restaurant operations involves the drafting of an effective survey questionnaire to gather customer feedback. Additionally, the AI can generate responses to customer queries, guest reviews, personalized interactions, and even social media copywriting to create engaging promotional content.

ChatGPT has the potential to change the anatomy of hospitality industry work, augmenting the capabilities of individual workers by automating individual activities. In terms of application, ChatGPT excels in tasks that require forecasting, optimization, and decision-making and can generate its own output. The incredible depth and ease of ChatGPT has shown tremendous promise for industry applications.

By Michael L. Kasavana, Ph.D., CHTP, CFTP, MSU Professor, Emeritus, AHLEI Author of the Eleventh Edition of Managing Front Office Operations.