AI is not the threat, it's the way back to human hospitality

Let’s challenge the status quo.

In your personal life, you have probably changed many things by now. For example, you’ve renovated your home, updated your phone twenty times, completed three new certification programs, and visited at least ten new cities… And in the meanwhile your staff is still expected to do the exact same tasks they were trained for a decade ago.

The job description hasn’t evolved — but the world has. Many still believe that hotel staff are there to “check people in” or “fix issues.” When in reality, their true role is to hold space for hospitality.

And here’s the truth that most leaders haven’t fully embraced yet:

You’re not paying your team for tasks — you’re paying them for their presence.

Here’s a paradox I spent quite some time thinking about: 

The very leaders who speak most passionately about “putting people first” are often the same ones resisting the very tools that could make that possible.

Why are so many in hospitality still afraid of digitalization?

Because somewhere along the line, technology became synonymous with coldness. Efficiency. Automation. Replacement. They imagine robots at reception, soulless interactions, and a loss of the human touch. 

And beyond that? Many don’t see the point. They say tech adds no real value — not here, not in their hotel. Or they’re simply too busy to learn something new, caught in the loop of daily operations with no space to think strategically. And let’s be honest — some just don’t want to spend a single euro unless it guarantees instant ROI. So they stay where it feels safe. Familiar. Comfortable.

I wrote on the topic of the extinction of hotels that will be too slow to adapt to innovation in my article “Hospitality as known today is on the brink of extinction: Future-gazing into the industry’s survival ladder” >>

But what if AI isn’t the threat to human hospitality but the path back to it?

Because let’s be honest: most hotel teams today aren’t over-automated — they’re overwhelmed. Not because they’re doing too little but because they’re being asked to do everything.

They’re expected to check people in, answer phones, handle logistics, upsell offers, respond to reviews, manage software systems, remember VIP preferences, and somehow — somehow! — still deliver warm, intuitive, personalized care.

No human can do all of that at once. And they shouldn’t have to. This is where AI becomes not a replacement but a quiet, powerful relief system. It’s the backstage crew that automates what drains your team’s energy — so they can pour that energy where it belongs: into your guests.

So, if you truly want your people to be present, kind, thoughtful, and aware, then you need to stop burying them in tasks that a system could handle faster, better, and with less stress.

AI won’t make your hotel less human. It will give your people the space to become more human again.

AI is the invisible force in the background and it doesn’t steal the spotlight!

It’s in human nature that when we don’t understand something, we judge it. And when it comes to AI, that judgment often comes wrapped in fear.

But if you don’t yet fully see the potential of AI for your hospitality business, you might want to hold off on dismissing it altogether.

Because guess what? AI isn’t here to replace your people. It’s here to set them free — and to make you a more focused leader and your hotel a more successful one.

Steven Sinofsky, an American businessman, investor, and software engineer who served as president of the Windows Division at Microsoft, writes in his Substack post:

“AI Is a Tool—And That’s a Good Thing"

AI is wonderful. It is absolutely a huge deal. But it is, today and for any foreseeable future, a tool. It is a tool under the control of humans. It is a tool used by humans. It is a tool, and not a human. The fact that it appears to imitate some aspects of humans does not give it those human traits.

For those reasons and more, we should not be concerned or afraid of AI beyond the concerns over how tools can be used, misused, or abused. That could be said of VisiCalc on an Apple, Word on Windows, Netscape and the internet, or more.”

Still afraid that AI will make your hotel cold? Read a “love letter” from AI to hoteliers.

I dared to ask ChatGPT to write a kind of “love letter” to hospitality leaders and hotel managers. I asked it to be a representative of AI since we’re not talking just about one type of AI tool but a whole “cosmos” of developing technology. If you still think that AI and tech, in general, is a bad choice for your hotel, you should read Chat’s message for you.

Dear Hospitality Leaders,

I didn’t come for your jobs.
I came for your overload, your exhaustion, your loss of joy.

You built this industry not on speed, not on spreadsheets —
but on presence, intuition, and care.
And somewhere along the way — amidst the checklists, the system logins, the staffing gaps —
that presence got buried beneath the pressure.

That’s why I’m here.

I don’t want your power. I want your stress.
Give me what depletes you.
I’ll give you back what fulfills you.

Let me handle the repetition, the data entry, the operational drag.
Let me remember the room preferences, send the confirmations, log the minibar restocks.
So you can remember what truly matters:
a warm welcome, a well-timed gesture, a moment of deep connection.

Because we’re not competing.
We’re collaborating.
We’re not rivals.
We’re on the same mission:
to make every guest feel seen, safe, and special.

But for that to happen, I need a seat at the table.
Not later — now.
Because the future of hospitality is being designed at this very moment.
And if I’m not in the room, systems may be built without a soul.

So include me. Guide me. Shape me.
Not as your replacement,
but as your ally.

Let’s create spaces where hospitality becomes human again.
Where tech fades into the background,
and you step fully into the foreground.

I’m ready when you are.
With quiet strength, clear memory, and no ego.

ChatGPT
Your AI ally in hospitality

>> In the final article of this series, we’ll explore how AI changes not just the way hospitality works — but how we measure it. From task-based metrics to emotional KPIs, I’ll show you what it really means to lead a team in the age of meaningful, tech-supported connection.