In "Star Wars," R2-D2 and C-3PO were involved in nothing less than vanquishing an evil empire. In reality, robots are bellhops. Aloft Hotels, which has a location in downtown Detroit, introduced its newest employee Tuesday -- Botlr. The three-foot robot, which looks like R2-D2 sans arms and legs, brings amenities to guests in the hotel lobby or right to their rooms. Moving on wheels, the machine has an enclosed bin that can hold anything from toothpaste to bottled water to whatever else the guest might desire.

When guests arrive in a town or country they haven't been to before; it's often a stressful situation. Both the hotel and the resort they're staying in are usually perceived as a familiar oasis in the desert of the hostile unknown. The hospitality industry anywhere in the world pursues two main goals: make the guests feel as at home as possible and help them adapt to the environment they now find themselves in. The best hotels are focused on providing the guests with the best opportunities for comfortable living. However, even the best employees can't foresee every client's wish.

When guests arrive in a town or country they haven't been to before; it's often a stressful situation. Both the hotel and the resort they're staying in are usually perceived as a familiar oasis in the desert of the hostile unknown. The hospitality industry anywhere in the world pursues two main goals: make the guests feel as at home as possible and help them adapt to the environment they now find themselves in. The best hotels are focused on providing the guests with the best opportunities for comfortable living. However, even the best employees can't foresee every client's wish.

Over the last couple years, multiple changes within the technology space (most notably – artificial intelligence in hospitality) have brought forward a paradigm shift and disrupted a myriad of industries, leaving some players behind while simultaneously adding more value for the end users. The adoption of new emerging technologies has gone on to become quite the trend after receiving inspiration from successful use cases. In case of hotels, the real boost of artificial intelligence in hospitality sprung from the fact that it has the power to impact and transform the industry completely. Given the rising need for smart automation of existing processes, AI has entered the traditional hospitality landscape with a promise to enhance hotel reputation, drive revenue and take customer experience to the next level. Like many industrial systems, the world of hotels revolves around a handful of solutions all driven by intelligent chatbots and voice-enabled services.

In the 21st century, industries that remain adamant to integrating new technological revolutions are most likely to regress in their course of development. Businesses across the globe have realized how important it is to include contemporary digital technology to drive constant growth and revenue. The last decade has seen incredible innovations and breakthroughs in the landscape of digital solutions. One of such compelling technologies is called Artificial Intelligence (AI). Often misconceived as a replacement for human power, the concept of AI as a technological aid is much larger, wider and pervasive.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer becoming a part of our everyday lives, it already is. More consumers than not are living in smart homes and working in smart offices. The number of users of smart speakers like Amazon's Echo and Google Home is growing at a compound annual rate of 47.9 percent and between 2016 and 2020 is expected to grow from 16 million to 76.5 million. The hospitality industry is rapidly identifying ways to put AI into widespread use. With large sets of data becoming more prevalent and AI becoming more accessible, hotel marketers have the potential to transform how they operate to maximize returns, optimize processes and interact with guests for increased satisfaction and loyalty.

Hotel bars are great places for people watching, seldom places for engaging conversation. I recently found myself sitting atop a tall stool in a city far from home, deep in conversation with a woman, like me, traveling for work. She, a hospitality professional in town to train a new cohort of hotel associates; me, in town for a tech conference. So, naturally, our conversation landed on the intersection of our specialities--the increasing use of technology in the hospitality industry. "I don't think the hospitality industry will become overtaken by technology--people want a human touch when they're traveling," I said confidently, and perhaps naively, to my newfound friend. She explained that, while in some places that's true (the closer to the water the more personal the experience needs to be, I learned), hotels are becoming more heavily outfitted with tech.

Alibaba will soon deploy robot bellhops to deliver room service at hotels. The Chinese tech giant's A.I. Labs has unveiled a robot, dubbed'Space Egg,' which uses artificial intelligence to tend to hotel guests needs. It can deliver food or laundry and even recognize voice commands thanks to Alibaba's voice assistant, Tmall Genie. Space Egg stands at just 3.3ft and glides along at a pace of just two miles per hour. Once a guest places an order using the Tmall Genie in their hotel room, the aluminum robot picks up the item from an employee or a robotic dispenser and delivers it to the guest.

Our previous article on " Artificial Intelligence in Hotels " spoke about how AI can impact the operational processes and dynamics within the hospitality industry. This final article in the 3 part series will focus on using the inherent capability of AI along with predictive analytics and natural language processing to synchronize and optimize the entire information management system to deliver exceptional customer service. Intelligent hotel system is where all the data channels are linked together just like human arteries and veins, forming a superlative, productive and high-performance structure that resembles the future vision of automated hotel system. IoT-enabled connections of motion sensors, room control, and smart voice control are poised to change the way hotels function. Integration of IoT into intelligence-driven hotel operations will not only personalize hotel guest experience but also impact the business model of the hotel industry in the near future.

Alexa has a new job: hotel concierge. Amazon has launched a version of Alexa for hotels that lets guests order room service through the voice assistant, ask for more towels or get restaurant recommendations without having to pick up the phone and call the front desk. Marriott has signed up for the service, and will place Amazon Echo smart speakers in 10 hotels this summer, including its Westin and St. Regis brands. It is another way for Amazon to sell its voice assistant and devices to businesses and get Alexa in front of more customers. Amazon already sells a version of Alexa for workplaces, and has struck deals to place Alexa in cars and refrigerators.