Each month, "Dean's Corner" will share insights from the University of Houston's academic leadership. This month's edition features insights from Dennis Reynolds, dean of UH's Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership.
Many of us in hospitality higher education address a variety of groups about the future,
whether regarding industry trends or the future of hospitality education. Over the
last couple of years, I’ve noticed a trend in requests for such speeches, ones that
ask specifically about artificial intelligence (AI), seeking insights into its likely
effects on the industry and higher education. I gave several such talks this summer.
It seems appropriate, then, to address this question in this newsletter. We’ll start
with the basics.
Will artificial intelligence (and robotics) make hospitality jobs obsolete?
That Eric’s was the first restaurant in Houston to utilize a robotic server was intentional;
we want our students to see what the future might hold. The same is true of AI. We
are embracing it and preparing students to learn how to make hospitality jobs easier.
AI will, indisputably, affect every specific job differently.
That said, we are hospitality, which by definition includes a human component. Yes,
AI can assist with the basics like checking into a hotel room, but the hospitality
we extend a guest by handing them a room key with a smile cannot be replicated. Moreover,
many guests want the human touch. This will not change.
How will AI change the hospitality industry?
Those applying AI at work have focused on increasing productivity through automation
and task substitution. This not only makes work cheaper and faster but also changes
how work is structured, how workers understand their contributions, and how organizations
exercise control.
In hospitality management, leaders will now have to consider AI’s impact on employees
and on guests. For example, automating the hotel help desk will certainly allow the
employee previously tasked with this duty time to complete other functions. But is
it good for the customer? Such automation is already widely accepted for restaurant
reservations. But are the employees who once answered the phone and wrote down reservations
actually more productive in their other duties as a result of the time saved?
Another concern as we go down this path is homogeneity; AI broadens access to knowledge
creation but reduces creative variation. We already know that homogenization accelerates
when companies imply that opinions or guidance are human driven. As hospitality organizations
increasingly adopt AI, the outcomes will be less unique in each industry segment.
And as I predicted (correctly) for the restaurant industry decades ago, the other
major risk is mimetic isomorphism, where an organization imitates another organization's
structure, practices, or processes.
What does the future hold for hospitality?
I was reminded recently of a time when calculators became mainstream. Some educators
did not allow calculators in the classroom, arguing they would harm student learning.
Others, however, embraced calculators, believing that making simple mathematics easier
would allow them to teach more advanced quantitative methods. As history shows, the
latter group was correct.
Applying the same logic to AI, we need to harness its benefits while acknowledging
the costs. We want to improve learning outcomes while avoiding the homogeneity I mentioned
earlier. Students may look for the path of least resistance; it is our job to design
a path that promises a better future.