The Promise of "No Code" AI

Artificial intelligence is evolving. No, not in a dystopian sci-fi kind of way. It’s evolving the way technology often does, expanding from the realm of data scientists to become more accessible to a wider range of engineers and even folks with minimal tech training. 

Just as platforms like WordPress allow for “no code” web design, a new breed of “no code” AI has the potential to change our industry. 

The New York Times recently spotlighted Juji, a tool that streamlines the design of AI chatbots with “advanced human soft skills such as emotional intelligence.” The Times reported that staff at the University of Illinois deployed Juji to create a custom A.I. chatbot to enhance the school’s student recruitment operations.

Because “no code” AI is often driven by AI itself, the evolution of projects such as OpenAI, DeepMind, and many more could further fuel the trend.

I checked in with some innovative restaurant operators, solution providers, and academics to learn more about the promise of ‘no code’ AI for restaurants and hotels.

Future Value

“I see enormous momentum building up in this space,” says Tim Tang, Director, Enterprise Solutions, Hughes. It’s a competition to make AI and machine learning more accessible to the broader enterprise market. Data scientists are in short supply and extremely expensive.”

“I believe ‘no-code’ AI holds huge future value and promise for all industries, including Restaurants and Hospitality,” says Laura Calin, VP, Strategy and Solutions Management, Oracle Hospitality.  “For any such technology to be productive in application, domain expertise and efficient access to a rich data source are key prerequisites. This is why we have invested so heavily in enabling technologies around cloud and data, assuring that all our Restaurant and Hospitality clients large and small can utilize such technology advances in the future.”

“‘No code’ AI is in its infancy, but it offers great potential for the hospitality industry,” says Daniel Connolly, Professor of Hospitality, Drake University. “I suspect we will see a number of offerings proliferate in the hospitality industry in the next 12 months.  This will really help organizations like restaurants, with limited IT staff and budgets.”

Use Cases

“As AI technology expands within the restaurant industry, ‘no code’ AI platforms are very useful with simple use cases,” says Phil Crawford, Chief Technology Officer, CKE Restaurants. “For example, restaurant employees could use this type of system to ask an AI how to make a certain type of product (build) or even eighty-six (86) an item.  Additionally, guests could also use a front facing portion of the AI technology to allow guests to query about the status of their meal. With these simple use cases, the use would be around basic natural language processing and the interaction is just prompt driven versus conversation driven.”

“The biggest potential use that I can see is within the back office solutions,” says Joe Tenczar, Chief Information Officer & Chief Strategy Officer, Sonny’s BBQ. “Instead of having users dig through dashboards and reports looking for the ‘whys,’ a savvy non-programmer may be able to utilize ‘no code’ AI to just point the manager to root cause items that are throwing the numbers off.”

“‘No code’ AI can build websites, regularly update databases, maintain data systems, deliver personalized customer support, enhance effectiveness of marketing and sales,” notes Cihan Chobanoglu, Interim Dean, School of Hospitality, USF Muma College. 

“I think many of the online ordering companies have implemented a little bit of ‘no code’ AI — in a recommendation engine for upselling, for example,” says Hanson Li, Founder & Managing Partner, Salt Partners Group. “Some are pretty dumb — they simply suggest high-selling items or some sort of relationship (if x, then y). I haven't seen a lot of mass-customization yet. All this can be done as a 'no code' because you can give the algorithm a goal (increase sales, increase conversion rate). ‘No code’ means I don't have to build the regression model. But to get the most out of it, the business still needs to be smart about the goals and parameters directing the AI.”

“As for complex use cases, ‘no code’ AI is unlikely to provide any significant value in the near term,” cautions Crawford. “These types of complex use cases introduce machine learning applications like computer vision for self-driving cars, speech-to-text for guest ordering at drive-thrus, and natural language understanding for free-flowing user-to-computer communication. Hopefully over time, ‘no code’ AI can evolve to become useful.”