ChatGPT Has a Long Way to Go to Replace Hotel Chatbots

There is no doubt that ChatGPT is smart. It has access to a massive neural network, which is like a giant brain that’s been trained on a huge amount of data. However, it does not have the ability to access the internet or search for information in real-time. See for yourself.

Being in the hotel chatbot industry, we think about the implications for our own business. Will ChatGPT replace our customizable hotel chatbot?

The short answer is, not anytime soon.

The longer answer is, not anytime soon, but it can help fill in some of the gaps that we haven’t.

First, let me show you why ChatGPT has a long way to go when it comes to replacing existing hotel chatbots. Here’s how it responded when I asked it about our own hotel’s check-in time:

That means specific hotel details listed online are not part of its knowledge base - at least not yet. This is most likely a conscious decision by the developers to avoid misinformation (and maybe even litigation). In fact, this kind of conversational AI has been known to provide convincing but completely made-up answers, which can be dangerous.

It makes better sense to say, “I don’t know,” and leave it to those who do. After all, those kinds of questions are best answered definitively by the hotel. And that’s the real value that today’s hotel chatbots bring to the table. They’re customized specifically for hotels, with answers coming directly from hotel management. The guest gets the right answer every time. The hotel reduces phone calls and emails, drives direct bookings through its website, and improves its guest experience.

Now let’s see how this new generation of conversational AI can complement what current hotel chatbots lack. Let’s ask it about places to visit near the hotel.

As you can see, this is where this system really shines. You can even ask for its opinion.

That’s what I mean when I say it’s smart. It has enough information to make up its own mind. This might be scary for some, but that’s how it will enhance the guest experience: by providing general knowledge about the surrounding environment. It will not only make the interactions richer but also more human-like.

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For now, we’re closely watching this technology and following its development. In the meanwhile, we’ll keep customizing chatbots for hotels the old-fashioned way.

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If you’re interested in finding out more about our customized chatbots for hotels, please contact us. It only takes thirty minutes to get all the information we need. We are hoteliers and built this first for our own property. Since then, we’ve been customizing chatbots for hotels around the world.

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Nima Anvar is a Hotelier-turned-Chatbot Developer for Hotels