In an AI-driven world, bars and bartenders become sanctuaries for real talk and human connection
AI is becoming more commonplace across the world, and bars have turned into a haven against the revolution.
Unless you’re a 30-year-old baby, you’ve probably been swept up by the immediate pervasiveness of artificial intelligence in society. All of a sudden, it’s ubiquitous presence across all facets of life has become a factor that appears to have already settled its long-reaching roots into the fertile ground of humanity.
Except for the pub.
Going to the pub is still – at least for now – best experienced in an AI-free world.
IBM recently wrote that researchers with AI’s help, can “identify new drug compounds and predict their effectiveness, or assisting cybersecurity professionals identify and mitigate fraud," actions that “enhance employee well-being” and “increase revenue.”
But at the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s Futures Lab, Food & Wine senior editorial director Sean Flynn argued that in a hospitality world increasingly leaning on AI, the secret weapon isn’t automation, but humanity itself. Faster service or automated interactions are not the answer, but personal experiences shared together.
“At the end of the day, making people feel welcome, making people feel important, creating those individual moments — that’s what really stands out,” Flynn explained to those watching on, adding that “there are what, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of bars across the United States. When someone goes to a bar, they can go to 10 other bars, and they don’t necessarily have to come back to yours. So how do you make yours stand out from the rest?”
The rise of zero and low ABV cocktails is also something that should be kept in mind for bar owners. While alcoholic beverages are popular, “not everybody is drinking anymore” and “people still want that human connection.”
The Connaught Bar in London’s Mayfair neighborhood was pointed out by Flynn as a prime example of a unique experience that gets customers to return: “For any drink you order, they’ll also give you a little recipe card that you can take home, that is such an easy way of making people remember the experience. It costs them almost nothing to make that connection and encourage people to come back again and again and form memories … but then you’re also making for a really nice individual experience.”
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“Technology,” Flynn assures, “will never be able to do that."
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