Promethean Shame: Why Technology is What Makes us Human (Rethinking the Role of Digital in the Hospitality Industry)
Technology is what makes us human.
If you know me, you know I am a transhumanist, so my views on tech are biased, and I see Homo Sapiens as an evolutionary phase, not necessarily the outcome. However, my assertions are backed up by many philosophical pieces of evidence. Let's start with Günther Anders, that introduced the concept of "Promethean Shame," referring to the Greek myth of Prometheus. According to Anders, this shame comes from the fact that humans are consistently surpassed by their own inventions in an asynchronous relationship with the technology they have created. Well, guess what? That's basically what most people are only realizing now with ChatGPT... However, upon closer examination of the myth, Prometheus did not create fire from scratch; instead, he stole it from the Gods and taught humans how to use it. Technology, therefore, IS human. However, it's, if anything, more human than human. I will tell you more: we could say that technology is what makes us human.
Plato was technophobic too.
We complain about the short attention span of teens because of social networks, but do you want to know what Plato said about the invention of writing? "It will implant forgetfulness in men's souls. They will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks." What does that mean? Thatwe were having the same conversation 2,500 years ago. To paraphrase David Chalmers, our connection to technology is a matter of degree, not of a kind, and we can expect digital and virtual experiences to become more integrated into our everyday lives.
The Internet and real life are two different things. But are they?
Therefore, IMHO, the future will be more digital than we currently expect. That's already the case. Let's go back twenty years and try to prove it empirically. In the early 2000s, a popular TV show, "To Catch a Predator," aimed to expose adults seeking inappropriate relationships with minors online. One of the creeps caught by the show after a sexually charged conversation with a decoy posing as a teen candidly said, "It's just talking. The Internet and real life are two different things." This perspective was common in the early days of digitalization when people believed that their online activities were separate from IRL. However, the digital, virtual, and physical distinction has become blurred today to a level that it's probably pointless even trying to distinguish them. Our online actions have real-life consequences and vice versa. For example, I could lose my job if I tweet something offensive now. Do you remember the Justine Sacco case? She was a PR consultant who made a "funny" tweet as she was boarding a plane. The tweet read, "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!" Well, she was fired before she got off the plane.
I am real, right? RIGHT?
This is an anthropocentric myth, the fixation that we are the center of the universe. We're 7.6 billion people and yet represent just 0.01% of all living things on the Planet. If we condense Earth's life into 24 hours, humans have been alive for 3 seconds. So we are pretty much irrelevant from a statistical point of view. Recently, I have delved into the rabbit hole of the simulation hypothesis, which posits that our reality could be a simulation. It is a fascinating concept that prompts us to question our place in the world (just to put things into perspective, in a recent report from Scientific American, scientists concluded that the odds that we're living in a simulation are 50/50, higher than Nick Bostrom's prevision...).
What do people want from travel?
What do people desire most from travel? As a friend always says: "Escapism." An experience that takes them outside the mundane realities of their day-to-day lives. However, in the travel industry, simply the thought of high-tech is enough to create a peculiar paradox. On paper, digital and virtual are the ultimate ANTI-travel dystopia. However, I argue that we have only changed the medium, not the end goal. In the past, we used to book travel through paper catalogs and dusty physical travel agencies, and now we do it through apps. In the future, we will book travel in Decentraland. However, the end goal remains the same. The president of the Italian Hotel Association (and a close friend of mine) once told me that when a hotel in Rome received its first reservation by email, the owner became extremely nervous, as he thought that people would stop traveling and just stay online... Well, we know that didn't happen.
Engage with travelers before, during, and after their stays.
The traveler's journey is not a straightforward path that always follows a digital or analog process. Each person is unique and may use different touchpoints of engagement depending on the moment. Therefore, viewing the engagement process as digital versus analog is wrong, just like in music. Sure, vinyl has a unique sound filled with surface crackle, pops, and distortion that some people (myself included) love, making it different from other formats, but I can also enjoy simple a-physical streaming on Spotify. I can go full analog when I spend time with my best friend (avid vinyl collector), drinking good wine and listening to “The Shape Of Jazz To Come” on 180 gr., but then just listening to hyper-compressed John Zorn’s bootlegs in mp3. Hey, I am not the same person at 5:00 PM and at 7:00 AM. Who is? In the same way, our engagement with guests should be tailored to their preferences, regardless of the medium used. When it comes to engaging with guests on-property or after their stays, it's essential to approach them with the same level of respect for our guests' personal choices and preferences. We should aim to provide a high-tech experience that doesn't sacrifice the high-touch aspect of hospitality. Good technology should be seamless and invisible, allowing guests to interact seamlessly with the property without unnecessary delays or human intervention. Logistically, we should focus on streamlining processes to make them more efficient.
The New Luxury? Providing a choice
Let's take a look at luxury now: luxury is not (at least not anymore) defined by physical gestures like opening a door or carrying luggage but by the ability to access services and amenities seamlessly and with ease. This includes accessing our rooms through our mobile devices and not having to wait in long lines to check-in. Giving guests a choice in how they interact with the property is critical to providing a positive and enjoyable experience. We should start by understanding that we're not all alike. As Malcolm Gladwell said, "Don't look at the stranger and jump to conclusions. Look at the stranger's world." If you see me as the guy who will attend the event, you may begin treating me with a very ceremonious treatment that I despise. However, if I tell you to keep it simple, it's because I am not only what you see; there are many nuances in people. You don't have enough information, but I am giving you some, and you should be able to adapt your level of service accordingly. What they teach at hotel business schools is: "treat them all as kings!" But the reality is that some of us hate that.
Rethinking recruiting and staff training
The last decade of my travels, which has consisted of around 100 nights per year, has not yielded a single positive hotel check-in experience. This is not due to the staff but rather the reliance on them to perform tasks that should be automated. When seeking new employees, hotel job postings often prioritize hard skills such as software knowledge and Excel proficiency over empathy and human interpersonal skills. It seems as though we are hiring developers instead of hoteliers. It's ironic to acknowledge that Google Translates provides better translations than many underpaid human waiters. This is simply the reality. The digital versus analog mindset is a real problem within the hospitality industry that cannot be ignored.
Marketing and communication?
To succeed in marketing and communication, we must challenge our assumptions about human behavior. While it's widely believed that connecting with others is crucial for a fulfilling life, we should question this premise and consider on a case-by-case basis whether human interaction will actually improve our experiences. The pandemic has forced us to rethink our perspective on interpersonal communication, and instead of viewing it through a romanticized lens, we should recognize that technology has played a crucial role in bridging the gap caused by social distancing. This has also exposed the limitations of relying solely on human-centered approaches in the hospitality industry. As evidenced by Airbnb's success during the pandemic, we must consider new, innovative approaches incorporating technology and automation to enhance the guest experience.
What should hotels do to prepare for the future?
English author Douglas Adams, famous for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, was a technology enthusiast. In a (very contemporary, even to this day) essay titled How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet,
published in The Sunday Times in 1999, Adams proposed rules for our relationship with technology. According to him, anything that exists when you're born is normal, anything invented between the ages of 15 and 35 is exciting and innovative, and anything invented after 35 is unnatural. In our industry, the average age of a hotel general manager is 44 years old, so, for most of us, new technologies often seem unnatural. However, it's crucial to maintain an open mindset regarding tech, as we never know who will be the VHS or the Betamax of hospitality... The definition and understanding of hotels have changed dramatically over the last century. While the basic idea of providing lodging for travelers remains, technology advancements have made the process of booking a room much more convenient and efficient. People today value their time and appreciate the ease of making reservations with a few clicks. The evolution of technology has made the hotel experience much more convenient, but it also means that if the process is too complicated or time-consuming, people may choose a different option.
Conclusions
The question of what makes us human is complex and has been debated for centuries. Descartes believed that the mind and body are separate entities and that the mind is what defines our humanity. It's not analog Vs. digital. Physical Vs. virtual. It's perceived Vs. not perceived. You may say that we'll miss human empathy, but even AI can develop some level of compassion as long as it is coded appropriately.
Just ask Blake Lemoine...
