Gastfreund Blog

ChatGPT in hotels: How to benefit from artificial intelligence

In recent months, the media have been teeming with articles on the topic of artificial intelligence (AI). The reason: Since the end of 2022, the text-based AI model “ChatGPT” has been available, which answers its users’ almost every question in chat form.[1] Whether in marketing, programming, at school or for private email correspondence – the possible applications of ChatGPT are versatile. Experts see great potential for relieving the workload of the future – also in hotels, where the workload is high but staff is often scarce. We have compiled the most important facts and give tips for the use of ChatGPT in hotels.

Artificial intelligence on everyone’s lips: What can ChatGPT and other AI systems do?

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT has become a real buzzword. The company behind it is OpenAI, which specialises in research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). [2] But what exactly is ChatGPT? We simply asked the smart chatbot itself this question. Because who could know better? This was the answer:

Chat GPT is a type of computer program that can talk with people using text. It is designed to understand what people say or ask and respond in a way that sounds like a human conversation.
To work properly, Chat GPT has been trained on information from the internet. This training helps it understand different topics and generate responses that make sense. It can also understand and communicate in different languages.

Chat GPT is a very advanced program with a lot of knowledge, and it can perform many language-related tasks. It can answer questions, explain things, give suggestions, and have general conversations.

Screenshot-ChatGPT-What-is-ChatGPT-Gastfreund-GmbH

ChatGPT answers questions and generates texts on request. The conversation is deliberately meant to sound human-like. [Image: Screenshot from chat.openai.com]

Alternatives for ChatGPT and other AI tools

ChatGPT may currently be the best-known platform in the field of artificial intelligence, but it is definitely not the only one. The list of text-based AI programs as alternatives for ChatGPT is growing. Here is a small selection:

By the way: ChatGPT only outputs text, at least at the moment. However, if you would like to create images or videos with the help of an AI, you will find what you are looking for, for example, with the following providers:

AI tools for images AI tools for videos
Dall-E 2
(also from OpenAI, like ChatGPT)
Synthesia
Midjourney
(registration via “Discord”)
Lumen5
“Image Flash” from Neuroflash Wondershare Filmora
Adobe Firefly
(only in connection with Adobe products like Photshop, Indesign etc.)
Pictory
Artificial-intelligence-handshake-pexels-kiquebg-Gastfreund-GmbH - Kopie

More and more technology providers are developing systems that work with artificial intelligence and generate text, images or videos at the click of a button. All of them have different functions, advantages and disadvantages. Users are spoilt for choice.

How to benefit from ChatGPT and other AI in your hotel

Hotel marketing: content creation and inspiration

The core competence of all AI programmes is to quickly create content. ChatGPT spits out descriptive texts, social media posts or entire blog articles virtually at the push of a button. Of course, this makes content marketing workflows much more efficient. But be careful! Especially for texts that should be search engine optimised, e.g. for your website or blog, an AI-generated text can be a disadvantage. Because search engines like Google explicitly prefer unique and helpful content. [3]

Our recommendation is therefore: use ChatGPT’s answers as inspiration instead of blindly copying an entire text. For example, let the AI rephrase individual excerpts or ask for a summary of a text that is too long.

Robot-Artificial-intelligence-Bench-Accounting-Unsplash-Gastfreund-GmbH

Artificial intelligence in the form of systems like ChatGPT can be a real help in everyday hotel life.

Guest communication: formulate faster, interact more

There are several ways in which you can also use ChatGPT for more efficient guest communication. For example, it is obvious that you formulate emails or newsletters to your guests as well as responses to reviews with the help of artificial intelligence. Just like in hotel marketing, ChatGPT serves here optionally as inspiration, as a proofreader or as help in the search for the optimal formulation. This way, you write the texts faster overall and have more time for other tasks again.

Communication within the team and with applicants: Translation, spell-checking and formulation

Even within the team, it is sometimes important that you find the exact right words. Whether it’s an instruction in the employee handbook, an internal announcement for the team or a job advertisement – ChatGPT presents you with a suggestion at the click of a button. This saves valuable time. Those who have difficulties with spelling or struggle with language barriers benefit twice over. Because even though ChatGPT was originally trained in English, the chatbot is also proficient in German, French, Italian, Dutch and countless other languages. The texts that the AI outputs are therefore, with minor exceptions, grammatically and linguistically correct. [2]

? Tool tip:
The hotel board provides even more relief in team communication. Here you communicate with your entire team or with individual employees, organise tasks efficiently and always keep track of all to-dos. Artificial intelligence is also used in the Hotelboard: thanks to automatic translation into more than 25 languages, communication in international teams is easy.

Hotelboard-App-request-table-reservation-translation-Gastfreund-GmbH

Communication within the team also works even better with the appropriate solutions, for example thanks to AI-supported translation in the Hotelboard.

Attention: The limits and risks of ChatGPT

How creative is ChatGPT really?

For all the joy about the smart chatbots, there is of course also criticism. For example, ChatGPT only uses resources that are already available on the internet. The artificial intelligence reproduces existing content and, if necessary, brings it into a new context, but does not really create anything new. For example, if you use ChatGPT to generate a descriptive text about your hotel for your website, in most cases it will look interchangeable and impersonal. This may also be noticeable to the readers, who will certainly feel better addressed by a personal and authentically formulated text.

AI-generated texts: What are the dangers with regard to search engine optimisation?

According to its guidelines, Google classifies automatically generated content as spam. [4] Therefore, many marketing experts currently fear that the search engine giant will also understand content created with the help of AI as such and punish it with a worse position in the search results. But whether Google really recognises which text comes from ChatGPT and which one was written by a human is still unclear. The fact is that artificial intelligence is writing better and better texts and learning more and more.

Missing sources, outdated data and problematic content

Last but not least, ChatGPT is of course not infallible. It is not without reason that the provider OpenAI points out possible misinformation directly in the chat window : “ChatGPT may provide inaccurate information about people, places or facts.” Basically, the text robot does not indicate where it got its information from. This makes information difficult to verify.

In addition, it is important to know that the free version of the chatbot is “frozen” at the status of September 2021. This version cannot answer questions relating to world events after that date. However, it only becomes a problem when the system “hallucinates”, i.e. simply invents facts. According to experts, this happens less often in the latest version, GPT-4, but this error has still not been completely eliminated. [5]

Artificial-intelligence-ChatGPT-check-text-Gastfreund-GmbH-pexels-mart-production

Exchangeable texts, problems with search engine optimisation or false information: You should look carefully at the texts that ChatGPT outputs before you publish them.

Conclusion and tips for dealing with ChatGPT

All in all, it has to be acknowledged that ChatGPT offers some opportunities for hotel employees. For example, it makes content creation and communication with guests and team members more efficient. However, when it comes to promotional texts, caution is advised because ChatGPT content is often less authentic and could be classified as spam by search engines.

Tip 1:
Especially on your website or in your Digital Guest Directory you better rely on professional texts that really reflect the character of your accommodation, pick up the target group and set you apart from your competition.

Furthermore, ChatGPT makes mistakes and does not give sources for its information. Therefore, users should always question the answers.

Tip 2:
See the chatbot only as a tool for brainstorming, research or and structuring your text. As a matter of principle, do not publish any content blindly and unchanged from the tool. This way you are on the safe side

Finally, we have a video for you that shows the limitations of AI models like ChatGPT. Even if you sometimes have the feeling that chatbots are omniscient, they ultimately fail time and again on questions that seem logical to anyone with common sense.


Image source:
Generated with Adobe Firefly – “Text to Image” Generator


Sources:
[1] OpenAI Blog, article dated 30.11.2022: https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt
[2] Handelsblatt, 19.06.2023, What you should know about OpenAI’s AI: https://www.handelsblatt.com/technik/it-internet/chatgpt-was-sie-ueber-openais-ki-wissen-sollten-/28941524.html
[3] Journey Before 9, 6 March 2023, Be careful when using chat GPT for your website: https://www.reisevor9.de/marketing/vorsicht-beim-einsatz-von-chat-gpt-fuer-ihre-website
[4] Spam Guidelines for Google Web Search, as of 6/22/2023: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies?hl=de#spammy-automatically-generated-content
[5] SR.de, 21.03.2023, What’s new about ChatGPT-4? https://www.sr.de/sr/home/nachrichten/panorama/was_ist_das_neue_an_chatgpt4_100.html

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