Gary Direnfeld

Alluri.

A.J., welcome to the show.

Hi, David.

Thanks for having me.

So in what ways can we expect in the next five or 10 years hotels, especially mid-range hotels, to shift towards using AI and robots and check-in screens and kind of losing that human touch?

Got it.

So walk me through some of your research.

I imagine hotels and hotel managers feel one way about using AI in their establishments.

And I imagine the guests might feel something slightly different.

Now I know concierge at hotels, not all of them, but some of them, for example, if I asked for a romantic restaurant recommendation, they might be a shill for the restaurant.

They might send me to a restaurant that has kind of a handshake with a hotel.

But if that were to happen, I would still trust it a lot more than like going to a screen saying, hey, can I have some restaurant recommendations?

Is that what you're finding?

Like the people want that personal touch and that when they ask for help, even if a machine can provide it, it's just a weird experience?

I'm hearing that it's great technology.

And for some use cases like late night recommendations or maybe the language where the hotel is, the national language, I don't speak it.

I see where it's a benefit there.

But I'm imagining my parents who are in their 70s going, well, sorry, my mother's in her early 20s.

She would want you to think that.

But mom, if you're listening, I'm sorry.