Artificial intelligence is transforming the hospitality industry by automating processes and services. But what happens when even the relationship with guests becomes automatable? Is human contact at risk of becoming a luxury reserved for the few? And how can we distinguish between what we can automate and what we should truly entrust to machines?
These are some of the questions at the heart of the “Humans-as-Luxury” panel, scheduled for BTO 2026, which we preview in this conversation with Simone Puorto, founder of Elegia, interviewed by Stefano Maccioni as part of the communication and experimentation project Social Media LAB.
Stefano: Your panel starts from the idea that the more sophisticated technology becomes, the more value humans gain. Meanwhile, the Italian hospitality industry is struggling to find staff. If human interaction becomes a luxury, does that mean service provided by people risks becoming a privilege reserved for those who can afford it? And what will be left for mid-range hotels?
Simone: “Yes, the risk exists, and it’s probably the aspect of my thesis that worries me the most. Luxury has always been, at least in part, a matter of scarcity. When automation makes customization virtually infinite and at marginal costs close to zero, what will become rare is human presence itself. But this raises a profoundly ethical problem. If we let the market alone decide, being listened to by another human being could become a status symbol, like a designer handbag or a Patek Philippe watch. And so we must ask ourselves whether we have truly demonstrated the value of the human touch, or whether we have simply accepted a society in which authentic relationships have become a class privilege.
Let’s consider a concrete example. If artificial intelligence allows a receptionist to save three hours of administrative work, do those three hours become extra time to devote to guests, or an opportunity to eliminate a job? Technology does not determine the answer. It is the economic model into which it is introduced that does.
But be careful: I’m not against automation. A fully automated hotel that is efficient, affordable, and transparent about its value proposition can be a perfectly legitimate model. In fact, automation could help democratize travel. At the opposite extreme, I envision a luxury hospitality sector where human presence will become the key differentiator. Paradoxically, the real problem might be everything in between. I fear that mid-range hospitality could find itself in the worst possible situation: too expensive to compete with automated models and not profitable enough to guarantee the human service found in luxury establishments. An unfortunate hybrid, with underpaid, poorly trained, and demotivated staff, paired with poorly implemented automation systems. The worst of both worlds: hospitality that is neither sufficiently human nor sufficiently automated.
“My thesis, *Humans-as-Luxury*, is not intended to celebrate a future in which only the wealthy can afford human contact. It is intended to highlight this contradiction before it becomes the norm.”
Stefano: You mention a “Reverse Uncanny Valley”: it’s humans who seem artificial, not machines. When was the last time you saw that happen at a hotel?
Simone: “I have a very recent example: in Copenhagen, a few weeks ago, the night before my keynote on the ‘Humans-as-Luxury’ framework.”
The receptionist was completely absorbed in the PMS, never looking up. Passport, elevator that way, breakfast starting at seven. I explained that I had a flight at eight and that I had to check out of the hotel at 6:45. I asked if it was possible to at least have a cup of coffee or some fruit, especially since I could already hear the staff working in the kitchen. The answer: “Impossible.”
Then I ask him if he can have a bottle of Amarone—my favorite wine, which I’d brought from Rome—delivered to the room of a friend and colleague. “Of course, but we’ll have to charge you for the service.”
At that moment, I thought I would have preferred a machine on the other side of the desk. You don’t expect anything from a machine. But when a human being acts like a machine, you feel, in a way, betrayed.
That’s what I call the Olympia Effect, or the Reverse Uncanny Valley. The name comes from Olympia, the automaton with whom Nathanael falls in love in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s *The Sandman*: a machine that, in its apparent humanity, ends up being preferred to a real woman.
Today we’re facing a paradox: we evaluate human beings using technological KPIs and technologies using human KPIs. Good AI is AI that can speak like a person, and a good receptionist is one who can complete a check-in in less than thirty seconds.
And I don’t think that guy in Copenhagen was a bad person or a bad professional. I think it was us, as an industry, who trained him to become a robot, measuring his performance using metrics designed to optimize processes rather than relationships.
“After all, having a biologically human employee does not guarantee a human experience. Human presence and human connection are two profoundly different things.”
Stefano: If you were to run an independent hotel tomorrow, what would be the first task you’d entrust to AI, and what task would you never take away from a person? And why that one in particular?
Simone: “I would entrust artificial intelligence with everything I call ‘head-down work’: administration, forecasting, pricing, standardized responses—everything that forces a person to spend the day with their eyes glued to a screen.”
In fact, before even introducing new tools, I’d probably get rid of half of the existing software. Just look at a job posting for a receptionist: “empathy” takes up one line, while twenty-five tech skills follow. We’re looking for people who are half developer and half hospitality professional, and then we’re surprised when they don’t have time to look guests in the eye.
The one thing I would never take away from a person is that moment of welcome, when a stranger becomes a guest.
In Latin, *hospes* refers to both the host and the guest. Both sides of the desk coexist within the same word. And its root is the same as that of *hostis*—the enemy, the stranger perceived as a potential threat.
If we completely remove the host from the hospes, what remains is essentially access to an infrastructure. It may be a perfectly efficient service—and I have nothing against that—but I think we should acknowledge that we’re talking about something different.
The criterion I propose is what I call my “Golden Rule for Automation”: replace a human being only when doing so does not negatively impact either the guest’s experience or the well-being of the staff.
Because what we can automate and what we should automate are two very different lists. We’re obsessed with the first one, and almost no one bothers to write the second one.
“And I believe that an independent hotel has, in this sense, an extraordinary advantage: the freedom not to be scalable.”
Stefano: At BTO, you’ll be launching HospITALY, Hospitality Net’s new Italian panel, featuring over 60 experts. What do you hope to contribute to the current Italian debate on hospitality?
Simone: “In Italy, we have extraordinary voices, but knowledge is fragmented. You follow one professional on LinkedIn, another on their blog, and a third through their company’s content. I think what was missing was a shared, independent space where these voices could come together, exchange ideas, and—above all—disagree with one another.”
HospITALY was born precisely from this idea: to pose a common question and gather different perspectives, without any requirement for consensus.
“After all, this, too, is a form of hospitality: making room for others, especially when they don’t see things the way we do.”
“What can we automate?” and “What should we automate?” are two profoundly different questions. This is one of the topics Simone Puorto will discuss at BTO 2026 during the panel “Humans-as-Luxury”, scheduled forNovember 11 at 12:00 p.m. in Hall 5 at the Stazione Leopolda in Florence.
During the meeting, the following will also be presented: HospITALY, the new Italian panel of Hospitality Net, will also be presented.
The interview, conducted by Stefano Maccioni, is part of the communication and experimentation project Social Media LAB project by BTO 2026, conceived by Roberta Milanoand curated by Annalisa Romeo.
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