It is becoming increasingly apparent that effective customer support presents a significant immediate opportunity for artificial intelligence (AI) in the travel industry.
In Las Vegas, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is hosting a week-long conference to unveil cutting-edge offerings tailored for the travel sector.
As a subsidiary of Amazon, AWS specializes in cloud computing and has played a pivotal role in helping clients in the travel and other industries leverage the latest advancements in AI.
Enhanced Biometric Solutions by AWS
AWS has introduced an innovative biometrics solution called Amazon One Enterprise, which includes a palm-scanning kiosk for identity verification. This technology aims to simplify access for travelers and staff at airports, hotels, and similar establishments.
The system combines palm and vein imaging to achieve an impressive accuracy rate of 99.9999%. Through AI integration, it captures palm data to create a unique identifier linked to credentials like an employee ID. Users can simply hover their palm over the kiosk reader for entry.
The main goal of this technology is to move companies away from traditional security methods like key fobs and passwords, which are vulnerable to security breaches.
IHG Hotels and Resorts are currently testing this solution to replace badges and manual guest ID checks.
Nick Krieble, IHG’s global head of identity and access management, stated, “With Amazon One Enterprise, our objective is to offer employees a convenient way of identification and access to our systems by just hovering their palm over the Amazon One device. This streamlined authentication process enhances operational efficiency and accessibility for our staff.”
AI Innovations in Customer Service
AWS has unveiled various AI enhancements for Amazon Connect, a cloud-based platform that empowers companies to streamline customer service operations:
- Amazon Q uses generative AI to propose responses for customer queries, enabling agents to respond promptly. For example, it helps agents effectively communicate the company’s reservation change policies.
- Amazon Connect Contact Lens employs generative AI to summarize customer interactions, assisting managers in evaluating performance and identifying customer sentiment trends.
- Amazon Lex allows for the rapid creation of chatbots and voice messages using natural language prompts, thereby reducing customer wait times.
- Amazon Connect Customer Profiles enable companies to build personalized customer profiles from diverse data sources, enhancing customer service personalization.
Choice Hotels has integrated some of these AI capabilities into its customer service contact center, improving data mapping efficiency and enriching customer profiles for personalized services.
Delta Air Lines is working with AWS to develop AI tools using Amazon Bedrock, a platform that simplifies AI-powered app development without the need for coding expertise. Delta aims to offer customers conversational responses on travel policies, flight schedules, rebooking options, and airport conditions.
AWS has also introduced new features for Bedrock, such as Guardrails, to prevent inappropriate interactions between users and applications.
