Empathy vs Automation: What Should Stay Human in Hospitality?

About this episode

The episode explores the balance between technology and human interaction in the hospitality industry.

In this episode, we move beyond efficiency metrics and ask a more uncomfortable question: can technology truly replicate the human side of service? With insights from fine-dining professional Benjamin Yong, we explore emotional intelligence, service recovery, and the invisible labor that defines great hospitality. The future may include robots — but what must we protect to keep hospitality human? Music credit: "West in Africa" by John Bartmann is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License .

People in this episode

Host: Food Decisions Research Laboratory

Guest: Benjamin Yong

Topics covered

• hospitality
• technology
• emotional intelligence
• service recovery
• human interaction

Keywords

• hospitality
• automation
• empathy
• service
• technology
• emotional intelligence
• fine dining

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Food Decisions Research Laboratory

Books & works: West in Africa

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