AI, it seems, is creeping into everything. In a little café in a local neighbourhood in Penang, far from the madding tourist crowd, the young entrepreneurs running it offer “AI Fried Char Koay Teow”.
For anyone who’s been to Penang, you’ll know that “Char Koay Teow” (fried rice noodles) is the most sought-after dish by both locals and tourists, who will go hunting for the best version however far it may be.
“What does it taste like?” I asked the Gen-Zer waiter as only a silly human would.
“It’s good,” he replies, with a cheeky grin.
Listen to this story here:
It’s actually a robot wok that cooks on its own, adds ingredients automatically and mechanically fries them and then covers it with a lid, and you see streams of smoke emitting from the holes in the cover, which adds to the intrigue of this dish that has reached almost mythical proportions in terms of its popularity and the secret sauce of what makes a great plate of “char koay teow”.
There’s nothing like ‘wok hey’ on a sunny afternoon. Serving fresh ‘char koay teow’ at WiT Indie 2024 in Penang
I confess. I didn’t try it – I usually go to this café for local desserts – but online reviews seem to express surprise at how good it actually tastes.
At WiT Indie this year, it was interesting to see how fast and how enthusiastically smaller travel players have adopted AI and other forms of technology in their businesses.
This time last year, when we raised the topic of AI, and even though it had been almost eight months since the launch of Open AI in November 2022, the long tail of travel was still largely not paying a lot of attention to it.
While the giants had leapt in, independent businesses with limited resources were waiting-to-see and who can blame them – in running a small business, it’s hard enough to manage the present let alone worry about the future.
Well, I definitely detected a mindset change this year.
Firstly, there was acceptance of the current distribution realities – that consolidation at the top of the funnel is here to stay and will only get stronger as the OTA giants fight to dominate search, however it evolves with AI.
Chris Ong, owner of Georgetown Heritage & Hotels, told me, “There’s no point us fighting with the OTAs for distribution, they have so much money. What we can do is use them to get new customers and when they come to us, we give them such a good experience and build a direct relationship.”
Secondly, there was also a lot more enthusiasm around adoption of AI and other new tech that will help their businesses. Ong is keen to explore how he can use AI to do revenue management, “so we can get the best rates for our limited inventory at any time”.
“I think machines are more daring to make bolder decisions,” he said, after he had heard Klook’s Sarah Wan speak about how an AI-marketing campaign had done better than a human-run campaign.
Klook’s Sarah Wan speaking about how an AI-marketing campaign had done better than a human-run campaign.
Jane Iyer of Jane’s Tours, Singapore, who was at first sceptical about audio tours, is now open to how she can offer “hybrid” storytelling – use of audio in parts and transition to humans at the right time.
Meantime, Ong has used Generative AI to create videos to tell stories of his hotels and collection, to differentiate what he does in the crowded boutique hotel market in Penang. Here’s one about “Opium Beds, which tells the story of the opium trade and wars fought over this narcotic.
“It can really help with our storytelling,” he said.
Tribe Tours, Singapore, has developed its own EZBooking.AI solution to automate reservations and assignment of tour guides, and used Gen AI to illustrate images for a children’s story book for a new tour aimed at toddlers. (See related article)
Pioneer in heritage conservation and storytelling, Loh-Lim Lin Lee was visibly excited about how she could use AI, audio and other immersive tech to bring the story of Fort Cornwallis to life and make it “not the second most boring attraction” in the world. There’s never been a more exciting time to be a storyteller, she said.
Jason Chan, co-founder of Cinewav, actor and film producer, reminded the audience that storytelling is not about sharing information or facts. “Stories need a hook, meat and insight,” he said, using key words such as “human, striving, monumental, achieving it, and insightful learning.”
A Cinewav screening out in the open
Stories make it “personal and emotive”, he said, concluding, “Everyone has a story.”
Jane Iyer of Jane’s Tours (Left), Singapore, was at first sceptical about audio tours, but is now open to how she can offer “hybrid” storytelling
Quoting dancer Martha Graham, “There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it”, he told the audience of indie travel players that “it is your duty to share stories that make tourists feel, so they are connected to the places they visit and people they meet”.
The “secret sauce”, as such, is the storytelling – as well as the single-mindedness of the indie entrepreneurs gathered at this event.
From Raudha Zaini of halaltrip, Singapore who wants to make it safe and easy for young Muslims like her to travel the world to Low Wan Xin, founder, Wanderworks Lab, who wants to make a co-working desk available within 15 minutes of wherever a digital nomad is in Malaysia, to Kuo Li-Chin, founder of the Taitung Slow Food Festival, Taiwan, who refuses to be distracted by the hectic world out there from her mission of creating a slow food movement and Henry Sun of Stunning Taiwan Travel who remains steadfast to his goal of delivering local, genuine experiences that connect with local communities.
As with the AI char koay teow, the robot can do the work but the secret sauce, well, that’s the domain of humans.