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Artificial intelligence can lead to surprises in any place where the bill is once considered.
Using AI from Hertz (and the European SIXT car rental company) to scan cars damage, which is then charged by the customer – is a new application of technology that crawls into the life of consumers unnoticed. But it will not be the last unexpected adjustment of the AI courtesy trips.
Experts say consumers should count on the fact that in the future enterprises in the sphere of service will unfold if they are not yet.
“Since businesses seek to automate loss prevention and efficiency, we see the emergence of what I call” algorithmic audit ” – a systematic deployment of the II for the identification, classification and monetization of previously unpainted ineffectiveness and losses,” said Shannon Makkin, Professor Practice and Executive Director Forest. Recently Hertz program report The New York Times is the beginning of what McKin describes as a broader transformation and a new malfunction line in the service economy.
“The introduction of these systems shows the fundamental tension between the prompt efficiency and customer satisfaction and justice,” McKin said. The question is not easy, or can AI detect scratching on a car rental. “That’s right, whether it is necessary to charge customers for every microscopic imperfection that algorithms can identify, but the opinion of a person may not be reasonable as ordinary demolition,” he said.
McKin says the dialogue between the service agent and the client over the costs will be increasingly included in the new term: “The machine says”.
Scan the hotel number
Hotels go through these changes, according to Jordan Hollander, co -founder HotelTech, a research platform that helps hotels find new digital and AI products to improve efficiency.
“I have seen more experiments with AI hotels through operations, but not quite the same as Herz uses it to automated damage and bill. This is reported,” Hollander said.
For example, some hotels already use sensors working on AI, to control air quality and launch fines for smoking or vaping in rooms. But the cold warns that sometimes sensors cause false positives.
“Like anyone who uses a hairdryer or aerosol spray – and guests get into $ 500 without igniting. It is not difficult to imagine how it can go south quickly,” Hollander said.
But unlike the example of car rental, most hotels have not yet automated the billing stage.
“They use AI more to pull off potential problems – as a room that smells, linen that does not meet the standards, or problems with maintenance – and then swirled into a person for the final call,” Hollander said. So far, AI acts more than a very observation assistant than a judge and a jury.
“But it is clear that the hotels are heading in the same direction,” he said. “Between computer vision, which can detect damage or wear indoors and II, which analyzes the behavior of the guests or the conditions of the room in real time, the technology is already there.”
Customer reaction risk
In the hospitality industry, where trust is all, there are reasons for hotels moving with caution. Today, many hotel operators use II to improve things such as the efficiency of farming, energy consumption and guest reports – but they are cautious about when and how it affects the guest directly so that you can perceive to harm the experience.
“There is a risk of developing a backlash when the hotels begin to exhibit guests based solely on what the algorithm says. At the moment when the guest gets a fee and cannot receive a direct answer about why and how it was checked, you are in a dangerous territory,” Hollander said. “When the guests feel that they are watched either by nickel and a car, it completely undermines the relationship,” he added.
According to the Hollander, the recent experience in the hotel industry gives at least one careful fairy tale, citing the Alexa for hotels. “Years ago, the hot thing was voice devices, and it never took off for that reason,” he said.
Hertz’s press secretary told CNBC that AI brings the uniformity and sequence of the order process.
“For many years, the inspection of vehicles caused confusion and disappointment. The process was manual, subjective and inconsistent, and this is not good enough for our customers or our business,” she said.
She added that when checking digital vehicles, hertz introduces “the necessary accuracy, objectivity and transparency of the process-giving our customers great confidence that they would not be charged for damage that did not occur during the rent, and a more effective process of permit when harming.”
Of the 500,000 rent so far, more than 97% have not found the damage to the enrollment, according to Hertz, and the incidents on damage are reduced in places equipped with scanners.
Hertz’s press -secretary admitted that the new system is still working.
“We know that changing this scale takes time, and we listen, learn and improve every day. As we said from the beginning, our goal through this initiative is to increase the safety, quality and reliability of our fleet and create a more consistent rental experience for our customers.”
According to McKin, AI is superior to the recognition of the sample, but where it can be insufficient, is a nuanced decision -making that has historically characterized good customer service.
“What does these systems are particularly problematic, this is an erosion of contextual opinion,” McKin said. Traditionally, business relationships relied on human opinion to navigate the gray areas like “If a cut tire is a normal application compared to charging damage? If a hearty part in the restaurant satisfies the hungry client, not wasteful?”
According to him, other companies will watch Hertz closely to find out how the experiment is working with the II, and then goes to profits, if it is established that the use of technology does not cancel customers.
Automation Against “Absolute Excessive”
The use of II to pay for costs is not yet common because companies have not found out the balance between customers’ trust and AI realization, and the benefit still does not exceed the potential loss in loyalty, said Chuck Reynolds, head of Lek consulting and a member of the firm’s digital practice.
The key to the implementation of these tools to provide costs is transparency. “While the opportunity for the II is huge, the organization must be thought of being built as a capyate, not police and performers,” Reinold said. He added that Sustomers will accept II as part of the experience when companies are fair, visible and develop AI experience with empathy.
“AI must be based on customers at its essence,” said Reynolds, and companies must maintain a role for people in the control and cancellation process if necessary. “Organizations that do this without thinking about the whole process will have problems with the internal acceptance and acceptance of customers,” Reynolds said.
According to David River, customers should expect that more Hertz technologies are unfolding in different conditions. In addition to hotels, the future may include restaurants that use AI to detail plates to ensure accurate billing. But Rivo says that all this is done with the purpose of prompt efficiency, not for the punishment of the client. Use II in hospitality develops from passive data collection to active use of decisions in real time, said Riversra, and this includes things like monitoring your rental or how much you conduct raids Mini Bar in your hotel room.
“A common thread is improving the efficiency, enhancing guests’ satisfaction and automation traditionally manual tasks with a layer of accountability and transparency for both guests and provider,” said River.
However, not everyone is on board with this opinion.
“This trend is an absolute overload with AI solution,” said Daniel Keller, CEO of Cloud Infrastructure Company Neffx Technologies, which provides data and data analysis tools. “This specific use of the II does not increase efficiency; it carefully examines customers of enterprises with little profitability, seeking to suck extra money from the experience of the guests.”
