Natasha said responding to angry customers is one of the most difficult parts of her job.
Executives at five-star resorts say finding the right words to express the right level of contrition — especially when the hotel is not at fault (i.e.: a rain complaint) — is a tedious and time-consuming process. Her real name is used to protect the resort’s name.
But now she has a secret weapon: generative artificial intelligence.
Natasha posted the traveler’s complaint into ChatGPT and asked the chatbot to write a response.
A task that originally took an hour can be completed in “two seconds,” she said.
“A pretty good job”
“One of the (reactions) was much better than what I did,” she said. But “it has to be checked…you have to read through it.”
The reaction, she said, was often “sentimental” and full of adjectives. Still, they “got to the point of saying, ‘We’re sorry, we wish we could have done something, we would have done better,’ that kind of thing.”
They also address every complaint mentioned by travelers.
“Writing these letters is difficult; you have to write line by line,” she said. “If you don’t respond to everything on the list, then you’re not doing the person justice…artificial intelligence does a really good job at that.”
But the bottom line is that artificial intelligence is not as defensive as humans, Natasha said.
“Artificial intelligence removes all emotion. Maybe people are assholes—” she said. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Ghosting” risk
Natasha said it’s more difficult to respond to negative comments online because they are so public.
Additionally, research shows that companies that don’t respond to online reviews, even positive ones, may harm their brand reputation.
When technology company SOCi ranked the “online reputation” of U.S. hotel chains, it found that one driver of low scores was “ghosting,” or the failure to respond to traveler reviews.
The need to continuously monitor and respond to online feedback is part of the reason why “reputation management” using generative artificial intelligence is estimated to be worth $1.3 billion to the travel industry, according to a 2023 report from travel market research firm Skift.
Large language models can not only track the sites where travel reviews appear (from TripAdvisor to Yelp to Reddit) but can also help companies “respond to reviews, especially negative ones,” according to the report, titledThe impact of generative artificial intelligence on travel,” state.
According to the report, about 45% of hotels already use reputation or review management software.
Screenshot of a discussion about using ChatGPT to write reviews on the Airhosts Forum, an Airbnb host website.
CNBC
But short-term rental owners are also using artificial intelligence for these purposes, Luca Zambello, CEO of the short-term rental property management platform, said Jurni.
“The short-term rental/Airbnb industry has been an early adopter,” he said. “In the next five years, I would say it will probably be adopted by the vast majority of industries.”
He said responding to reviews is time-consuming, which is one of the reasons his company offers the service.
“The majority of our users absolutely love it,” he said. “Once companies see how good it is, it’s really a no-brainer.”
an open secret
In a travel industry that prides itself on personalized service, using artificial intelligence to write a confession is a taboo subject. The traditional concept has always been that an apology must “come from the heart.”
I want people to think I’m sitting there slogging through their letters.
Natasha
Five Star Resort Director
When asked if she wanted travelers to know she used artificial intelligence to respond to negative emails and comments, Natasha said: “I certainly don’t want to. I want people to think I’m sitting there slaving away at their mail.”
Travel booking platform is one company that admits to using artificial intelligence to handle customer complaints woyaguA company representative said it stores past customer communications to help travel advisors with future interactions.
“Travel advisors always respond to customers personally, but Voyagu’s AI system tracks all communications (both written and verbal) and suggests better ways to respond,” she said.
Brad Birnbaum, CEO of AI Customer Service customersaid this technology is “used not only in the hotel industry, but in all forms of customer support.”
He said his company, whose clients include Priceline, Hopper and AvantStay, uses artificial intelligence to help customer service agents sound more professional.
“We’ll transform very rough text into elegant text, compassionate text,” he said.
Customers may not be aware that their interactions with customer service agents were generated or improved by artificial intelligence, Birnbaum said.
“I don’t think they care,” he said. “In fact, I think they might welcome an agency system because they’ll get a better response faster.”
discover it more
Michael Friedman, CEO of family-owned vacation rental company Simple Life Treatssaid his company does not use artificial intelligence to respond to customers.
“We never use artificial intelligence to write emails,” he said. “I think there’s still a personal element in the ‘tone’ that artificial intelligence is missing. … I believe there’s nothing better than the human touch.
Wanping Aw, Managing Director of Japan Travel Agency Decudo, said she had never thought about using AI to respond to customer complaints. But after learning that this was true for other travel companies, she decided to test ChatGPT using a real-life problem she had recently encountered.
She typed: “Our guests are traveling to Mount Fuji. Their bus engine just started smoking. They are scared and anxious and wondering what will happen to their trip. What should we do?”
result? “Pretty amazing!” she told CNBC via email. “ChatGPT suggested exactly what we did!”
The chatbot provides a six-step plan, including evacuating travelers and arranging alternative transportation.
Displays the text of the ChatGPT apology letter generated by Wanping Aw.
“Actually, it’s better this way,” she said. “ChatGPT provided a great solution – better than I expected – and also a great apology letter, which I couldn’t have written in such a stressful situation.”
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