Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable.
You're listening to Roundtable.
I'm Steve Hatherley, together today with Lai Ming and Nyo Hong Lin.
Coming up, Autonomous, Las Vegas' new AI hotel, promises a personalized, intelligent guest experience.
But is AI -powered luxury what travelers truly want, or is this simply a futuristic novelty we don't necessarily need?
After that, picture this.
You're on a date. It's going extremely well.
You think, could they be the one?
All of a sudden, you look across the table, and you see something hanging, dangling from their left nostril.
Suddenly, you can't wait to get out of there.
What happened? You've experienced the ick.
What is it? We'll tell you.
Stay with us. Our podcast listeners, that's you, can find us at Roundtable China on Apple Podcast.
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And now, Las Vegas is about to redefine hospitality with the opening of Autonomous, the world's first AI -powered hotel.
This groundbreaking establishment will leverage artificial intelligence to personalize every aspect of the guest experience.
From automated check -in and digital concierge services to room customization and robot butlers, Autonomous aims to provide unparalleled convenience and tailored luxury.
By analyzing guest preferences and utilizing smart technology, the hotel will anticipate needs and create a seamless futuristic stay.
But is this something we need?
Is this something we want?
And will this redefine hotel stays in the future?
What do you think? Is this just your initial reaction, a fully AI powered hotel?
Sound good to you? Sound too personal to you?
It sounds too impersonal to me.
Oh, interesting. I remember the movie by Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
I remember how Monsieur Gustave was able to be a very good confidant of, in fact, his lover.
He was a duchess or something.
So anyway, his cordial style, his approach and his connection with his clients is something that really is special I mean, I don't expect any concierge to be able to help me to that extent I mean, it's kind of disgusting to think about it, but I know, he set the standard, you know So the personalized
experience requires a human being, in your opinion Yeah, I would think so All right So tell us more about this hotel so we can get a better idea of whether we want to go there or not.
Well, this March, we'll see the soft opening of the Autonomous Hotel, which strives to be different than our typical Vegas hotel remote suit, not to say that I've stayed there.
Located less than 10 minutes from the city's famous strip, the Autonomous leans heavily into AI as its differentiating factor.
The basic price is about $300 per night, and that's relatively on the higher end, right?
Yeah, $300 a night.
That's about over 2 ,000 yuan, right?
2 ,200 yuan maybe? It's a decent hotel price for the US market, that's for sure.
But if you look at the model, it is hoping to mimic the Airbnb model.
So if it's that kind of hotel, then $300, yeah, it's a bit on the higher end.
And travelers can find a property that suits their personality while adding the consistency of a hotel experience, sure.
And the hotel will showcase two proprietary AI systems.
Fyro, F -I -R -O, is the AI -powered booking engine which optimizes the hotel's room allocations while maximizing revenue.
KEE, K -E -E, is an AI -powered app that acts as everything from the guests' room key to their own concierge.
I imagine there's something like an application that travelers can install on their smartphones to activate the services while they're in the hotel.
In order to be able to use that service, once you've made up your reservation, the hotel begins an onboarding process, kind of like the way college freshmen get to choose their dormitory.
Through a gamified Q &A session, it'll ask a series of questions at the exchange at the cost of, in fact, with the promise of giving some extra free drinks at the bar.
Oh, okay. So if you answer there...
With your cooperation, you get free drinks at the bar.
Yeah. And assuming you give it your permission, it'll also scrape the internet and social media sites for information on you and thereby analyzing the data to personalize your stay.
That would be a little bit too much for me.
Let's not skip over that one, right?
So through these AI -powered engines, if you want daily cleaning, you put that into your information.
If you want a room across from the pool, you put that into your information.
If you want an AI stalker, you check the box.
Yeah, so let's go back to that point.
the ai scrapes the internet and social media sites for information on you uh -huh no hotel that i've heard of before scrapes the internet and my social media sites looking for information but the reason i'm sure they would do it if they have enough staff but the reason they're doing this is so that they
can get your data to personalize your stay as much as they can the check -in is automatic there's no front desk this is where it gets on the Airbnb model you don't check in anywhere everything is done through the app right also if you need extra things I watched a video on this so if you need extra towels
for example you just put it in the app a human will sometimes a human sometimes a robot butler will bring the towels there's a little closet right outside your front door of your room okay they leave it there kind of like a mailbox yeah exactly exactly like a mailbox yeah i understand the concept and actually
part of the services actually a large part of the services are available here in chinese hotels as well there are many hotels in china now except you to instead of check out you can just leave the cart there and you just go and some hotels would allow you to book the hotel via a mini app on your phone
and you check in with the app instead of actually check in and also some apps are there in different types of hotels allowing you when you're in the hotel you can also make an order of the things you need or maybe you're ordering food and a robot would send your food up All those are fine by me, but the AI
stalker part and also in some other hotels, maybe not this one, that, well, there is a intelligent and also online server listening to your every need.
So instead of putting an order in the phone, you can just shout out your need.
Both those things would be a bit too much for me.
I do want to come back to the Chinese hotels in just a sec, but I don't want to finish on this data point just yet.
So when your stay is finished, Lai Ming, your interaction with AI is finished at this hotel?
No. When your visit is finished, autonomous will ask what you liked or didn't like.
It's like a Yelp or Damping application here, like we would refer to in China.
So that service would examine the gaps between its projection and your actual stay to teach the AI to improve.
To teach the AI for your future visit with this hotel team.
I feel like there isn't enough towels in my room to begin with, and it took too long for a new one, an additional one to arrive.
So the AI will factor that in next time you'll visit.
So that's what's separating or differentiating autonomous and other hotels.
But what about your data?
What happens to your data, though?
Well, you can choose to delete all your data if you don't feel comfortable staying there and letting go of too much of your data.
But I don't know. then that is then you are not no factoring in or you're not making the best of your stay with the hotel like that that's what i was thinking as well so if you can do well first of all you don't have to answer any of their questions right you don't need if you say don't scrape the internet
for my social media information they won't yeah but that being said and by the way you can delete your data at any point during the process right but then what's the point?
What's the point in staying in a hotel like this if you're going to treat it like a typical hotel?
This is located far away from the strip in Las Vegas, right?
So you have to travel a little bit to get to the touristy stuff.
But still, you're paying a price that's similar to prices that you would pay at a more expensive hotel.
I'm guessing that if people are going to stay at a place like this, they're fine with them scraping the internet for your personal data.
They're fine with the hotel hanging on to your personal data afterwards.
Given that the AI is doing a good job analyzing those data and actually accurately predicting what you really want.
Because I think when I'm doing research and thinking about this topic, I'm also thinking, why would I want AI in a hotel to start with?
I'm perfectly fine with good service from a human being and I feel happy that they can understand what they say and what I need.
But from a hotel operator's perspective, definitely AI can help them using their algorithm to figure out what can be some strategies to improve the efficiency and lower the cost for sure.
Maybe their promoting strategies can use a little bit of improvement from the AI.
But from our perspective as a consumer, definitely you have to give me the wow factor.
If I go into the hotel, there are different buttons that I do not know what they do.
And I press on one.
You show me this stunning scene, changing the entire glass of a wall, a wall of glass into a scene.
I would like that. And maybe you're showing me my favorite movie because definitely you stalk me on the Internet because I give you permission.
That might be good.
But it has to be more than just robots doing what human can do.
There is not a lot of information that the hotel is letting on at this point because for the promise that they give to tailor -made the service based on the preferences of clients who will forego their personal data into the system, I don't know the extent of customization they can do.
The infrastructure of a hotel might be fixed.
The size of the beds might be fixed, queen -sized, king -sized.
I was reading about it a little bit.
For example, if you have a favorite cocktail, right, they could have that waiting in your room.
If you have bed preferences, fluffier pillows or something, they can do that for you.
But they couldn't exhaust all the options.
But the needs and the preferences of the clients are many and varied.
I'm not sure that they can cover the needs of every specific demand from every specific client.
Yeah, that's a fair point.
They could get better and better with each stay that you make with them, each time you stay with them.
How often? You stay in a hotel.
Business travelers, right?
And I was thinking this too.
To Las Vegas. When I go to a hotel, I don't go on vacation that often.
So when I go to a hotel, I don't really want it to be overly personal realized.
I don't want it to feel like my house.
I want it to feel like someone else's.
You need the wow factor too.
I do, I do. No, I don't want them to keep the dent on the bed until the next time I visit.
Yeah, right. I did want to ask about hotels here in China.
I've seen the robot butlers.
Oh, how do you like it?
Well, you know, I feel they're a little rude, to be honest.
They don't they'll sometimes just cut right in front of you.
I'm teasing, of course.
Yeah, they deliver little snacks right down the street where I go to the gym.
They deliver snacks from the vending machine and then take them up to the rooms, which is cool.
They do look rude. They give the impression that they're so entitled, especially when you're fighting for a space in the elevator.
I know, they don't let you get off.
I know, Bob, please respect my privacy.
Please give me room.
They don't let you get off the elevator first, which I thought, wait a minute.
I'm a paying customer here.
Where are Chinese hotels in terms of their wow factors?
Well, besides the thing you have just complained.
Yes. Actually, there are many things.
For instance, we have intelligent hotel services, including self -service machine, face recognition, radar sensors, door locks, display screens, monitoring and other equipment, making sure it's safe, which is very, very important, actually, when you're staying in a hotel, because if we can have that kind
of system in all hotels, not just the high -end ones, then it's something that would ensure your stay for sure.
And when it comes to, for example, booking the hotel, there are different intelligent hotels allowing you to use VR 360 -degree angle viewing the room, knowing exactly where you're going to stay.
And again, you can also use voice plus cell phone, WeChat, multi -directional intelligent control so that your needs are met instantly.
Like open the curtain, voice assistant, open the curtain, borrow the water, please.
I like that. At one hotel at the bar, the bartender is a robotic arm, which can produce more than 20 different cocktail mixes.
That's kind of fun and exciting.
That's something that the autonomous hotels should have to back up the claim that they can customize the experience for the clients.
There's another international hotel that's teamed up with a Chinese tech giant to create smart rooms with AI -powered voice control for a more personalized tech experience, guest experience.
I think in general, China's hotel industry, the use of AI, the use of robotics is gradually becoming more widespread, particularly—maybe it's more commonly found in higher -end hotels first, I would think.
Maybe in the future we'll find it seen everywhere, but yeah, it's going to be the pricier places first.
And some functions have been widely adopted already, like smart room control systems, things like that, voice assistants, things like smart speakers.
Do these types of things appeal to you as a customer, or do they not?
It depends on my mood that day, because sometimes when you're on a business trip, you finish your entire day of work, and you just do not want to spare one word with one other human being.
You want everything to be autonomous.
And in that case, definitely going to one of those hotels, you don't have to exchange any sentence with any person would be somehow nice and relieving.
So yeah, attracted to me in that sense.
Well, it's not attractive in my opinion, but if I do run a hotel, I think it's a good deal So if the smart system can help me streamline the management of power system, the AC, the water, the boiler, then I think it's a tool to help me cut costs.
From the hotel's perspective, from the business perspective, they can do more with fewer staff.
They have increased pressure on margins these days, so these tools can help with that.
there are also rising guest expectations around technology as well i think that's fair to say the definition of what luxury is it's not one definition right sometimes that can be classic but sometimes that can be modern and high tech as well um but being able to adopt cloud -based solutions for a hotel
that offer flexibility flexibility and automation also real -time insights this is a money saver for hotels in in many cases so from a business point of view I can see why hotels would want to go in this direction right in the future do we all want to go in that direction in the future I'm not sure we
just talked about the elderly and train services and things like this would a high -tech hotel be attractive to that age demographic if the voice assistant is really as functional and as efficient as they claim to be then yeah in my Every time in the years, I would enjoy ordering the robots around and getting
me coffee and breakfast and stuff.
Fair point. You're listening to Roundtable.
And coming up, have you ever been on a date and suddenly that person does something that makes you turn your romantic feelings to disgust?
It's called the ick.
And we'll discuss it in just a moment.
Looking for passion?
How about fiery debate?
Want to hear about current events in China from different perspectives?
Then tune in to Roundtable, where East meets West, and understanding is the goal.
You're listening to Roundtable.
I'm Steve, together today with Nio Honglin and Lai Ming.
All right, you're on a date, and everything seems fine until they do that thing.
Maybe it's the way they laugh just a little too loudly.
And you think, oh, I really liked them until they did that Well, you just got the ick It's that inexplicable instant turnoff that makes you want to fake a sudden allergy to their presence One minute you're laughing at their jokes The next minute you are drafting your escape plans It's the ick What causes
us to get that ick, Nyo Hongbin?
Well, it's a feeling of disgust when someone you're dating does this one thing that you just can't get past.
It's actually a psychological term that all emotions from fear to disgust were evolutionarily disadvantages traits.
But the ick actually is really happening in a lot of different scenarios.
One theory points that disgust evolved to protect humans from pathogens, pathogens, thank you, that make us sick.
And that that kind of makes intuitive sense.
If a piece of fruit or meat smells disgusting, you probably won't want to eat same logic applies to dating.
If someone makes you feel really uncomfortable, then you just, you know, leave the room as soon as possible.
But to be honest, I do not really have an ick thing, or I do not really have a deal breaker, especially, for example, on the first date.
I have a system of a scoring system.
It's like plus and minus 10 points for Gryffindor and five points minus, something like that.
A credit system. So this is not something I'm really familiar with.
You don't have the ick in your body.
You don't have that moment where the person could do something and you feel like, I want to leave immediately.
You have a point scoring system.
Yes. So let's say you're eating dinner with a guy and you look over and he picks his nose as he's eating his food.
And I'll think, hmm, minus 10 points.
Only 10. What's the point scoring system?
10 out of what? That's worth 10 points?
Well, because it's really constant.
It's like if he is shouting or just, you know, raising his voice a little bit louder to the server, then 10 points goes away.
Yowling is very busy when she goes on a date.
Yes, I'm calculating in my head.
I have a mental. I have a table.
Wait, if there are points that can be minused, that means that there are points that can be added as well.
Exactly. So for example, if during the conversation he told me that he takes care of stray cats, that would be plus 20 points or even 30, depending on the number of the cats.
I'm doing calculation in my head really, really carefully.
So if he pulls the chair and picks his nose, it's still 100%.
Yeah, yeah, well, we start around 60 or 70 to start with.
This is a very detailed system.
How about for you, Laiming?
How do you feel about the ick?
i don't know i i don't do you have an egg to start with uh i haven't experienced that i i only dated one girl and i married her in the end um so you sound disappointed um i don't know uh i'm i'm picky because i don't start start a date until uh i it's getting personal i get over the uh the uh things
that i couldn't handle i remember there there was once a girl that I wanted to date, but then during a phone conversation, she said, oh, I so hated that my parents are so poor.
And that was a deal breaker.
Yeah, that can be a deal breaker.
So you do have the ick.
Well, I don't think it's an ick.
It's that I do not accept certain traits on a person that I do not allow them in my friend circle.
So it's not just for a date.
It's like for a friend and maybe someone I still talk to as a colleague.
So I don't think it's a date -specific kind of thing.
I have a very small pool, more like a teacup of candidates that we can date.
It's not a whole swimming pool of people that you would like to date.
So the ick moment doesn't really happen that often.
But the thing is, when it comes to icks, different people are different.
For some people, according to our research, the ick can be a man holding an umbrella.
I mean, what is that?
that oh that's from a Millie Bobby Brown you know that show stranger things the TV show stranger things is really popular anyway she's one of the main characters there and she made that comment in an interview all right well we could go into the science of why we react like this but rather than that why
don't I give you a couple of examples I searched the internet for people's moments I'll share them with you and you tell me whether that would be a deal breaker or not Okay.
These are real, by the way.
This is situation number one.
I was on a date, not me.
I'm reading from someone else's story.
I was on a date, and as we were approaching the crosswalk, the light was still green.
But it was counting down close to zero.
The guy I'm on the date with, he suddenly takes off to rush across the street before the light turned red.
I guess he assumed I would also rush across the street.
I did not. He's over there.
I'm over here. Ick.
And he's bye -bye across the street.
Well, that's not an ick moment for me.
That is an educatable trait.
I think if this person is really good...
It's not terminal. If he's really good at any other things, and I would remember that little point, and when we are together for around six months, I will start changing that about him.
If he's really good at grooming alongside running red lights.
Or if he's running across the street saying, I love cats!
Does that balance it out?
Still, I will change that for sure, but not an ick moment.
Okay, here's another one then.
Again, this is from a woman's perspective.
We were walking down the street and there was a pigeon on the sidewalk up ahead.
I told him I'm afraid of pigeons.
So he walked slightly ahead of me and tried to scare away the bird.
The bird did not move.
Ick. I didn't find him attractive anymore.
You understand the scenario?
I would blame the pigeon.
I know, me too. Maybe he's just too gentle.
If you imagine that, though, you know, you're on a date with a guy and there's a, oh, I don't like that bird, and he goes up and he's like, hey, get out of here, get out of here, but the bird doesn't move.
That's not a great moment for him.
It's not a great moment.
It's definitely not sexy, but it's not a crime.
If you can't scare away a bird, then I don't know how you're going to handle my mom.
Yeah, yeah, right. There was another one here which I thought was kind of funny.
This is being super picky, by the way.
This person said, his shoelace came untied when we were walking and he didn't fix it for the rest of the evening and I couldn't stop paying attention to it.
Well, to start with, say something about the shoelace.
And I think now I understand the ick a bit better.
That is something that you don't like.
It's a personal thing.
It's a personal thing.
Everybody's ick is different, I suppose.
Fun little topic. All right.
That will do it for today's Roundtable.
Thank you very much for joining us and sharing your time with us today.
Thank you to Lai Ming and Nio Hong Lin for being with me today as well.
You can find us at Apple Podcasts or on Apple Podcasts at Roundtable China.
And please do come back again next time.
