*Originally published on bnext.com.tw on April 28, 2023
Aiello Voice Assistant (AVA), which has already been deployed in 10,000 rooms, is about to get a significant upgrade. By integrating a large language models (LLMs), Aiello team will make AVA’s Q&A capabilities more human-like, reduce response time, and offer a better service experience for the guests.
AVA is now live in 60 hotels and 10,000 guest rooms across Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Through AVA, travelers can directly ask about information such as nearby attractions, hotel amenities or check-out times. By integrating large language models, hotels with AVA will benefit from shorter installation period and improved usability. Plus, the staff can reduce customer service costs and improve service efficiency.
Vic Shen, the founder and CEO of Aiello, emphasized that the AVA and GPT-series integration goes further than just integrating the OpenAI’s API. It also incorporates Aiello’s in-house built language model architecture that is built on top of the API (Aiello NLU).
For example, when a traveler asks a question to AVA, it first enters Aiello NLU to determine which language model to use for the response. The main purpose of this approach is to pick the most suitable language model. For example, when it comes to OpenAI’s GPT models, each question and response has costs and requires a longer response time. However, if the guest’s question is simple, has a clear intention, and requires specific instructions such as opening hours, directions, or Wi-Fi password, it doesn’t need the advanced GPT-model to answer.
The LLM integration also improves AVA’s responses and level of understanding. For example, if a traveler asks, “Do I need to wear a swimming cap in the pool?” and the information was missing in the database, previous language models may have struggled with the answer. However, with the integration of GPT, the device understands the question, and responds accurately right away.
More human-like and conversational responses will ultimately increase user engagement among travelers.
Vic Shen also mentioned that hotels with AVA can greatly enhance their exposure on social media. This is because travelers like to share unique experiences, and highlight hotels that are offering guests something different.
For businesses, there is another direct benefit of this integration – the reduced implementation time. Before, when deploying AVA to hotels, it would take hotels one to three months to train AVA on hotel-specific rules and responses. However, with the integration of the large language models, the process is much simpler. Hotels only need to provide a document, whether in the form of a physical book or a PDF. This significantly speeds up the implementation process, and the hoteliers can even teach AVA to customize responses about upcoming events and happenings.
Aiello has also developed a hotel task management software that allows hotel teams to dispatch guest requests and incorporate AI analytics in service optimization. When paired with AVA, Aiello Management System helps hoteliers to base their business decisions on real data from customer interactions.
Aiello team also leverages its expertise in natural language technology in their new product. Today, the start-up has officially launched Vocol.ai, a platform for voice and natural language transcription and AI-powered business insights.
Vocol offers essential features such as real-time transcription and AI summaries (allowing file uploads, phone call recordings, and video inputs). It also enables collaborative editing within the transcribed text, making it suitable for interviews, meetings, and video conferencing. The new software by Aiello is a productivity tool that targets professionals as well as corporate teams.
Former Google Managing Director, Lee-Feng Chien, mentioned that in the future, the technology development of large language models will be in the hands of a few companies. Other companies, especially startups, should focus more on integrating this technology in vertical industries and look for specific business applications.
Through AVA, Aiello team is able to understand the pain points of the hospitality industry and design the most suitable product. Aiello sees the language models developed by the major tech companies as a valuable asset which allow the start-up to focus on addressing pain points and integrating services. Despite facing strong competition, the company’s new product Vocol has the opportunity to showcase its value and success in order to match the achievements of AVA, which has already made its way into 10,000 hotel rooms.
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