ASSESSMENT SHEET
Argumentative Essay
Student name…
(coefficient 2)
A: Title & subtitle: Informative, specific, attractive 3 2 1
B: Abstract: Effective summary of the essay 3 2 1
C: Introduction
Topic, issue, counter-argument 5 4 3 2 1
Main idea statement (MIS) & outline 3 2 1
D: Literature review: Overview & transition 5 4 3 2 1
E: Body of essay
Ideas: Strength of arguments 5 4 3 2 1
Dealing with counter-arguments 5 4 3 2 1
Use of sources (min. 5 peer-reviewed) 5 4 3 2 1
Paraphrasing & quoting 5 4 3 2 1
Structure:
Paragraphing: Topic sentences, focus, logical links 5 4 3 2 1
F: Conclusion
Retracing arguments & MIS (strength) 5
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SHOULD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REPLACE HUMAN LABOR IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
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Should Artificial Intelligence Replace Human Labor in The Hospitality Industry
Introduction
Innovative digital technology is driving positive change in the hospitality sector. Artificial intelligence is increasingly being adopted to enhance the client experience and increase business efficiency in the hotel industry. Artificial intelligence is the use of computer-powered robots created to execute human duties with increased efficiency (Ivanov & Webster, 2020,3). The hospitality industry comprises the hotel industry that offers room service, eateries, and liquor services. Currently, technological advancement seems unstoppable in every sector globally. The hospitality sector has made viable progress in the automation of the hospitality industry. The booking process, ticketing for parking, and client room orders have been automated in numerous hotel industries; therefore, the shift seems unavoidable.
Experts denote that in the near future, sixty-five percent of jobs in the hospitality sector are heading for pure automation leading to a social conflict of unemployment between human labor and artificial intelligence-powered robots (Martens & Tolan, 2018,2). Some may argue that it is socially unethical to replace human labor with machines. Still, the economic sustenance of the hospitality industry, especially the modern time where the Covid 19 pandemic has raved the norm of doing business in the hospitality industry. Inductive and deductive reasoning ought to be considered in coming up with coherent decision-making. The urge for continuity of business by implementing efficient, cost-effective strategies must be instigated to ensure the hotel industry stays afloat during and after the Covid 19 pandemic. The paper presents arguments why artificial intelligence needs to replace human labor in hospitality.
Literature review
The paper focus on artificial intelligence-powered robot should replace human labor in the hospitality industry.
Rosete et al. (2018,3) define artificial intelligence as service robots that conduct human beings’ roles. According to Rosete, service robots are becoming more common and play a significant role in society’s daily activities. Furthermore, Rosete (2018,2) decodes that the hospitality industry is changing drastically due to the adoption of artificial intelligence portraying a future scenario where artificial robots may replace some of the roles done by a human.
Acemoglu and Restrepo (2016) illustrate that artificial intelligence and robots have been automated in numerous industries and eased the production process. The researcher portrays that the automation of machines is to ease and increase service and commodity production. Furthermore, the experts portray that, unlike traditional methods that relied on human labor, automation is cost-effective.
Baumol (1967,4) observed that salaries and wages in sluggish productivity growth sectors would follow those in fast-growth sectors and impose a cost that drives wages and keeps down the capital share. As a result, total productivity growth is limited by inputs that are hard to improve upon.
Frey and Osborne (2017) negative aspects of automation. The study argues that machines are meant to replace human labor. However, the authors admit that they highlighted the negative entities of automation comparing robots and human labor and failed to consider complementarity and positive economic effects that such substitution would generate.
Bessen (2017) depicts the role of demand in the relationship between technological innovations and employment. Often, productivity instigating technology such as artificial intelligence upsurges industry employment. However, in the industrial sector, job opportunities grew along with productivity for the last century. Only later did growth gains bring declining employment opportunities. Bessen attributes the changes to shift in output demand and oversupply in the market.
Body
Automation of room services
Room service in the hospitality industry is significant in generating income in ensuring quality service delivery to satisfy and retain customers of room services. However, a level of automation is needed to improve efficiency, planning, and attention to every detail. Artificial intelligence strives to offer the solutions, for instance, the Relay room service robot developed in the United States is capable of utilizing the internal wi-fi, cameras, and sensors to navigate through the hotels to deliver orders that customers request at the convenience of their rooms (McCartney, 2020,3). The Relay and other artificial intelligence-powered machines, unlike room service personnel, have shown the capability to serve customers accurately, efficiently, and promptly without interfering with client privacy.
Cost-effective
Artificial intelligence should replace human labor in the hospitality industry because it can integrate data in part of a hotel. For instance, in booking hotel rooms, events, and vacation accessories, many clients currently use online booking through the hotel’s website. Artificial intelligence can process the request and notify the administrators in limited periods. Also, unlike humans who have to call or physically go to every department physically, AI is enabled to share the data with every department of the hotel to prepare adequately for the customers in limited timeframes and reducing mobility due to the connectivity of computers.
Consequently, unlike human labor, artificial intelligence can multitask with increased efficiency and accuracy. Artificial intelligence, like computers, executes tasks with minimal or no error in data calculation, processing and execution as long as the commands are accurately feed in the operating system (Yang et al., 2020, 6). The concept suggests that customer bookings, packages, and orders of services are accurately recorded in the hospitality industry, avoiding inconveniencing the consumer. Thus, artificial intelligence increases efficiency and ease of access to services, saving proprietors’ costs and eradicating human error.
Artificial intelligence is cost-effective, unlike human labor. Currently, the hospitality sector is among the negatively affected by the raging Covid 19 pandemic. Numerous hotels have gone out of business due to tough economic times and policies to limit the spread of the coronavirus. In order to stay afloat, the hospitality sector necessitates adopting artificial intelligence services to stay afloat. Since, unlike a human who needs to be compensated in salaries and wages monthly, artificial intelligence only requires initial capital to purchase. Besides, artificial intelligence works 24 hours unless affected by power interruptions and only requires regular servicing in technology updates. Moreover, artificial intelligence can further execute more than one task, eliminating the need to have numerous specialized workers create enough space to serve clients and save costs in wages and salaries.
Artificial intelligence-powered robots are created to handle complex duties that require a lot of effort. For instance, robots can handle large loads of goods that humans cannot handle in the hospitality industry, like farm produce. Hence, the robots reduce the time taken to load commodities, saving the costs to proprietors and ascertaining that perishable commodities reach the destination in the required time. Thus, the artificial intelligence strategies save on resources, time and eliminate food wastage.
Language diversity
Additionally, artificial intelligence is capable of learning vast foreign languages in reduced timeframes, unlike human labor. Learning different languages is essential in enabling the hospitality industry to serve diverse cultures in the current global world. Furthermore, artificial intelligence can engage, serve and satisfy customers in their language and those who may not understand the mainstream languages like English (Ivanov & Webster, 2020,3). Therefore, artificial intelligence increases the customer base for the hotel industry and propels the growth of the tourism sectors, increasing income to the government and profit for the hotel industry. Furthermore, artificial intelligence eliminates the repetitive task without exhaustion and saves humans the stress of learning foreign languages to concentrates on specialized duties like cooking.
Conclusion
The paper has outlined numerous arguments why artificial intelligence needs to replace human labor in the hospitality sector. The significant notion is that, unlike human labor, artificial intelligence is efficient, cost-effective, and eliminates human error in the dissemination of service in the hospitality industry. The paper has presented arguments that current times need cost-effective strategies and adopt artificial intelligence that is cost-effective to stay afloat.
However, artificial intelligence cannot fully replace human labor due to specialized roles that require a human touch. However, despite having numerous advantages that save on cost and increase efficiency, artificial intelligence is limited. Firstly, artificial intelligence-powered robots lack a human touch. The machines fail to connect with human emotions that are crucial in the hospitality sector. For instance, in the front office of the hospitality industry, it is crucial to welcome guests in a warm manner who may have had a long, tiresome day to connect with them. Using machines, the concept cannot be possible.
The essay purposes of enlightening the stakeholders in the hospitality industry on the technological opportunities. The findings need to be utilized to increase knowledge and strategies of saving income and efficiency in the competitive hotel sector. The artificial intelligence field needs more research on how to increases efficiency without necessarily leading to conflict due to the creation of unemployment.
Bibliography
Ivanov, S.H. and Webster, C., 2017. Adoption of robots, artificial intelligence and service automation by travel, tourism and hospitality companies–a cost-benefit analysis. Artificial Intelligence and Service Automation by Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Companies–A Cost-Benefit Analysis.
Saini, Aarti, and Rohan Bhalla. “Artificial Intelligence and Automation: Transforming the Hospitality Industry or Threat to Human Touch.” Handbook of Research on Innovative Management Using AI in Industry 5.0. IGI Global, 2022. 88-97.
Martens, B. and Tolan, S., 2018. JRC Digital Economy Working Paper 2018-08.
McCartney, G. and McCartney, A., 2020. Rise of the machines: towards a conceptual service-robot research framework for the hospitality and tourism industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Rosete, A., Soares, B., Salvadorinho, J., Reis, J. and Amorim, M., 2020, February. Service robots in the hospitality industry: An exploratory literature review. In International Conference on Exploring Services Science (pp. 174-186). Springer, Cham.
Yang, L., Henthorne, T.L. and George, B., 2020. Artificial intelligence and robotics technology in the hospitality industry: Current applications and future trends. Digital transformation in business and society, pp.211-228.
