Written by Sifan, 2021 Cohort
“It’s 8 o’ clock. Today is a sunny day. The average temperature is 25 degrees. Good morning, Sir.” It’s a line from Iron Man when it’s time to get up, Iron Man’s artificial intelligence assistant–Jarvis will say similar words to wake his master. Lots of famous movies have the same scene where one day you will be awoken by your AI assistant. And your curtain opens automatically. You wake up and sit on your bed overwhelmed by fresh sunshine. I experienced this kind of service last month, and it was a real eye-opener.
How it all went down
It was a hotel room I booked for my business trip. In the beginning, I wasn’t aware of what the differences between this smart hotel and other typical hotels were. The only thing that I felt was strange was there were not a lot of staff members in the lobby. I thought the reason was probably that this hotel was quite small. To be honest, my first impression was quite underwhelming.
But when I opened the door, the room seemed refreshing and colorful. The curtain opened automatically along with a voice “Welcome to Dixi smart hotel. If you have any requirements, please call me Xiaodu. Hope you have a nice stay in our hotel.” Then all lights in this room, TV and air conditioning turned on. My AI assistant–Xiaodu, started to play music to welcome my arrival.
You don’t have to make a phone call to the hotel reception to ask for the WIFI password. Any requirements you have, just tell Xiaodu. I ordered some food. After around 30 minutes, a robot delivered the food for me. It was incredible that I didn’t have to interact with any strangers. Everything makes you feel comfortable and well-served.
The prophecy is becoming reality
Bill Gates once said, “The future of the house is not equipped with artificial intelligence, it is a rough house.”
Now, Bill Gates’s prophecy on the smart home is becoming reality. The same is true for hotels. In the future, no one will be willing to live in a luxuriously furnished hotel without intelligent equipment. Just like nobody will choose the landline over the smartphone. The gap between them is very obvious.
Even if I still encountered some technical issues, like the curtain once suddenly opened automatically without my approval, I still believe this is a major trend in the development of the hotel industry. Things are only going to get more and more professional and better.