Thursday 5 March 2020

predicting the future of inflight service

Summary 

BBC article "Predicting the future inflight service" mentions about using advanced technology to improve inflight service. As the goal of inflight service is to provide the most comfortable experience to their passengers, some airline thinks about using technology to enhance the quality of services. Nowadays, Singapore Airline has already adapted technology in their flights. For example, the airline has success with an online chatbox that provide passengers with information in 24/7. Passengers can pre-order meal via Singapore Airline application. Moreover, the airline use AI to personalise their passenger preference, such as entertainment programs and pronouncing passenger's name correctly. However, using advanced technology on broad is still controversial. Although AI has a lot of potentials to understand the customers better, customers seem to be afraid of it.  Nonetheless, in the future, technology will be less obtrusive, and passenger and customers will be more familiar with cutting-edge technologies. As a result, the possibility to integrate them into flight experience will increase.
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Response 

This passage interests me because I usually take flights one a year. I have not seemed much improvement on inflight service, but I have seen a lot in airports. When I was young, I checked in with frontline customer service with a real person. Then, When I was older, online check-in emerged. Last year, I went to England and everything was self-service with the machine. I had to scan the get the flight ticket and name tags by myself. The experience at London airport is impressed me and scare me too because I travelled alone and I do not know what to do with the machine. So I agree with the article that says "people may not feel comfortable with advance technology." For me, human interaction is important for a service job. Texting with a robot like Chatbox program of Singapore Airlines feel like we can not communicate because we are in different species.

However, the passage mentions many interesting points. For example, airlines can AI to personalize each individual so the airline can respond to their customer need. I think it benefits a lot on entertainment programs on board because the airline can add movies that I may like on my screen.
Advanced technology may have other applicants that facilitate passengers in the way we have never thought before. Anyway, I think that many airlines try to find a way to integrate technologies by frightening us less as much as possibile. I cannot wait to see the new version of inflight services.



 
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Question

Do you like the idea of using advance technology in inflight services?
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Reference

2 comments:

  1. I like the idea that technology can respond to what I need without saying anything to anyone. If airlines can suggest my preference of movies, food and seats, it would be interesting. I think it works like the Facebook algorithm. It is helpful but it is annoying.

    I also agree with Mudmee that ‘human interaction is important for a service job’. Some people prefer to communicate with humans and refuse to use advanced technology. They are willing to spending money on a phone call and waiting in a long queue instead of browsing frequently asked questions on websites and using self-provided services. They also believed that humans can fix problems better than artificial intelligence or robots because the machines are not capable to understand human needs as humans.

    However, ‘advanced technology’ makes our life convenient and it saves our time. For example, when I have to fly on domestic flights, I always pack light with a carry-on bag and then I use online check-in on my phone. Hence, I don’t have to wait in a queue for check-in counters or drop bags counters. I can spend my time to have some meals before I travel. Automatic gates before boarding can save time when most people know how to use it.

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    Replies
    1. As I read her comment to grade it, I also found myself agreeing with most of Mae's ideas. I know some people might worry that AI algorithms know us so well that they can predict what we will like, or even what we will do, but a great advantage, I think is that NetFlix and Amazon usually make useful suggestions for me. ANd I love automation at airports! Flying today is much easier than it was a few decades ago, when you had to have paper tickets and early check in in person.

      Another thing I love is Internet banking - I don't have to carry cash, and can easily move funds around between accounts and make payments. In fact, one of the apps I use almost every day, often more than once, is for my accounts at a local Thai bank. (Unfortunately, my bank in Australia won't let me access accounts from overseas, so I need to sign in through my computers for that, but I don't use those accounts as much as the local Thai ones.)

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