Seoul, South Korea, August 6, 2018 — South Korean telecoms giant KT leverages IoT technology in the hospitality industry and enables a smart home experience for guests staying at hotels with the KT GiGA Genie Hotel solution equipped.
The first “AI-enabled” hotel started operations one month ago, on July 3, and three similar projects are currently on the way to finish by 2020. KT plans to roll their solution out globally by partnering up with major hotel chains such as Accor, Hyatt, and Marriott.
What does this AI-enabled hotel room offer?
Guests who stay at the Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels & Residences will be able to control the hotel rooms’ lights, temperature, and TV (infotainment system) with voice input. Similar to a smart home experience, you can just ask the Genie system something like, “Genie, please lower the room temperature to 20 degrees”.
The input works in Korean and English language. Other languages such as Chinese and Japanese are being worked on and are planned to be deployed at a later stage. Future features are also expected to incorporate this kind of service to the concierge desk to simplify the check-in and check-out procedure as well as the mini bar and general room service requests.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmHpkr2FnrT/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1txmwkik5aeui
Instagram: Hotel guest shares photos of the room and devices
Is that even AI?
Based on the currently available functions that are disclosed in the KT press release this seems to be more of an IoT voice control service. It is unclear how there are aspects of an artificial intelligence involved in this. They are possibly referring to future services such as an AI concierge. This is somewhat ambiguous as there is no actual definition of what AI could mean in this context. It’s either the wrong term to slap on the marketing or a forward-looking statement.
Leadership insight
“We have created a hotel with an entirely innovative concept by converging KT’s latest technologies and luxury hotel service,” KT Estate Chief Executive Officer Choi Il-Sung said. “At our AI hotel, people can experience new services that cannot be found at any other hotels around the world.”
Other exciting things that KT is working on
KT isn’t only working on hospitality technology to aid their real estate businesses. Next to various other curious endeavors, I found two interesting initiatives that one should also take note of. They are working on the concept of a 5G emergency rescue platforms that also acts as drone dropship, and they are investing time, effort, and money into the VR entertainment industry.
Photo credit: All used photos are owned by KT and provided through their press release.
Source: KT press release
Editorial notice: The quote has been provided as part of a public press release.
