Discussing how AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be harnessed for the tourism and real estate industries was the goal of a brainstorming think-thank lunch held last Friday at W Algarve Hotel in Albufeira, organised by the British-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce.
The event brought together several high-profile guests, from hotel and resort managers to business owners and other sector representatives: Alberto Mota Borges (ANA Aeroportos); Ricardo Gomes (W Algarve); Miguel Fernandes and Jorge Cabaço (Dengun); Carmen Baptista Rosa (PLMJ); James Dubec (StoryTailors); Katya Bauval (Vila Vita); Teresa Patrício (Teresa Patrício & Associados); Célia Meira (Ombria Resort); Jorge Pereira (Fine & Country Algarve); Anabela Macieira (Core Architects); Suzi Steinhofel (Designworks); Bruce Hawker (Open Media); Rachel Canales (GC Partners); Lucília Cruz Pinto (Verdelago); Marco Cogollos (Conrad Algarve); Rubem Galvão (Currencies Direct); Samantha Mendes (Quinta do Lago Real Estate); and Chris Barton (BPCC).
The emergence of ChatGPT was one of the main topics discussed. With over 180 million users worldwide, the chatbot has become an essential tool for professionals from a wide range of sectors.
“I use it more than 10 times a day for nearly everything,” said Miguel Fernandes from Dengun. “I probably use it even more,” added Jorge Pereira from Fine & Country Algarve.
Katya Bauval from Vila Vita stressed how these AI tools “can save us a lot of time,” an idea shared by many other attendees who noted how AI can be used to complete menial tasks.
The possibility of AI-driven job loss was also tackled during the event, with Jorge Pereira stating that any form of job loss will likely be compensated by the creation of new jobs.
Others spoke of how every new form of technology has always been met with a certain level of fear at first, but that evolution is a part of the human experience.
“What is a bigger concern is our children. How will their brains develop when growing up with access to tools like ChatGPT?” he questioned.
Samantha Mendes from Quinta do Lago Real Estate agreed, stressing that children will have to be “trained not to rely on ChatGPT as the only source of information and as a single solution.”
In terms of new employment, some guests predicted that several opportunities will arise for providing specialist advice on how to properly use AI.
As Jorge Cabaço from Degun pointed out: “When using this type of AI, it is the quality of the prompt that determines if you get a good answer.”
The ethical and legal concerns regarding the speedy development of AI were also touched upon during the event. There was also a healthy debate on whether AI will ever be able to truly replace humans, with some defending that AI won’t ever erase the need for the human touch, while others, such as James Dubec from StoryTailors, highlighted the impact that AI is already having on the film industry, with AI already being used to create the vast majority of commercials.
The overall feeling by the end of the meeting was that there are undoubtedly concerns that need to be addressed with the rapid development of AI but that there also many opportunities that can and should be taken advantage of.
Michael Bruxo
