• The history of Chianti wines traces back to at least the 13th century. They were originally produced as white wines in Tuscany.

• Teach me about the types of cheese and what they can be paired with.

• Please prepare a presentation on the history of the Peshawari naan.

An app that promises to be a ready reckoner for hospitality students and professionals was launched on Friday.

The hospitality GPT, called NamAIste by IIHM (International Institute of Hotel Management), blends tech and touch, provides verified information, guides students and faculty on how to make Power Point presentations and prepare business analytical reports, its makers said.

Human touch is at the core of the hospitality industry, but in the current “smart times”, the industry has to keep pace with technology, said veterans in the field.

“AI is important in our industry, but AI will not replace people....But AI will heavily assist the hospitality industry in efficiency,” said Suborno Bose, chairman, IIHM.

Technology will be able to provide customers the security of keeping their valuables in a safe in a hotel room, which is sensitive to only “face recognition”. “But a handwritten note by the general manager of a hotel kept in the room is what adds a personal touch,” said Bose.

Only passion will not suffice, processes like sustainable practices and waste management, have to be in place.

“Blending tech and touch, passion and process, we developed this app as a first step toward entering the world of AI in hospitality,” said Bose.

He is hopeful that this app will invite others in the industry to innovate.

Those who are students now will join the workforce in the next three, four or five years, and they will have to be future-ready.

“The students will work in a competitive AI environment, and if they do not know about AI, they will not be able to cope with the pressure of it,” said Bose.

In hospitality, everything has to be customer-centric, and technology helps bring service delivery and expectation closer to each other.

The head of a hotel in Bengaluru said personalisation can happen with communication and information. “If anyone is travelling to celebrate a special occasion or is allergic to any food, prior information about that can help to make the stay seamless for the guest,” he said.

The app will currently be accessible by students and faculty of IIHM and that of the 60 nations who are participants in the institute’s Young Chef Olympiad contest. It will be open to others after the first three months.

“This is genuine, verified information not pooled from other Internet sources. It is designed to empower students, faculty, hospitality professionals and industry stakeholders with real-time access to insights, trends and global best practices,” said Bose.

NamAIste is a customised large language model (LLM), and Entiovi Technologies was the tech partner of the project.

“The uniqueness was in creating the knowledge base from 60 countries,” said Sanjoy Chatterjee, director, Entiovi Technologies.