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By Caroline Thomas, Technology Editor: AI enabling hospitality to fish in new talent pools.
As the hospitality and catering industry here in the UK and across the globe struggles to recruit and retain people for almost all job roles, artificial intelligence offers the potential to train and develop people with a myriad of disabilities to enter and develop a hospitable career.
Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionise how disabled people learn by providing tailored solutions to meet their individual needs.
Here are some ways that AI can help:
Personalised learning
AI can use machine learning algorithms to adapt learning materials and activities to the specific needs and learning style of each individual. For example, an AI-powered tool can track the progress of a disabled student and generate personalised recommendations for learning materials, assignments, and assessments.
Accessibility
AI can help make learning materials more accessible to disabled people. For example, AI-powered text-to-speech and speech-to-text technologies – like the one you are listening to here, if you have switched on ‘listen to this article’ – can help students who have visual or reading impairments. AI can also be used to create closed captions, sign language interpretations, and other accessibility features that can improve the learning experience for disabled students.
Augmented and virtual reality
AI-powered augmented and virtual reality technologies can help disabled people learn in immersive environments that simulate real-life situations. For example, a person with a physical disability can use a virtual reality simulation to practice interacting with guests. People training as a waitress/waiter, concierge, or a receptionist could train real life situations in virtual settings.
Assistive technologies
AI can power assistive technologies that help disabled people overcome specific challenges. For example, AI can help people with speech impairments communicate by predicting what they want to say based on their input or using speech synthesis to generate speech on their behalf.
Overall, AI has the potential to create more inclusive learning environments for disabled people by tailoring learning experiences to their unique needs and abilities.
As research recently conducted by Professor Peter Jones MBE demonstrated, hospitality and catering employers need to be far more flexible in managing the relationship between employees and employers. Open to new ways of recruiting from new talent pools, and how they retain talent in their organisations.
I hope you enjoyed listening to my thoughts on this subject, thanks, Caroline
