Airbnb has built an intelligent system to boost user experience

BUSINESSES are learning to pay more attention to meeting the needs of their customers and improving their experiences. Adopting digital solutions have allowed businesses to do so in a progressive and goal-oriented manner.

Additionally, businesses can also tailor solutions of their own to help them approach arising problems and strategize improvements in a tactical manner – which is precisely what Airbnb has done.

It was recently revealed that the online platform has patented a system to help it better screen potential guests and hosts, to improve safety and the overall rental experience.

The technology is embedded with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and acts as a background-checking solution that could detect potentially-disruptive guests or fraudulent hosts.

Airbnb first filed the patent last year and the technology has been regarded as an analyzer of a sort as it can scan online sites and social media profiles of the platform’s users to verify that they are trustworthy and compatible.

If deployed on a full-integrated scale, the system can search the web to evaluate users against a metric of credible personality traits by scanning their online profiles and social media accounts.

Additionally, AI capabilities can alert the company to users with criminal records. Disruptive traits will also be identified and factored into a risk scoring system that the company has adopted.

On the company’s website, users are informed through a message that reads: “We use predictive analytics and machine learning to instantly evaluate hundreds of signals that help us flag and investigate suspicious activity before it happens.”

However, the company’s spokesperson recently issued a statement saying while it is true that Airbnb has filed the patent for the technology, the current implementation does not use all of the screening methods.

The spokesperson added, “As with any other company, there are a number of patents we file, ranging from searching listings to automating booking availability, and it does not mean we necessarily implement all or part of what’s in them.”

This decision seems to be a proactive countermeasure to an incident that transpired last year where a London host’s US$3.28 million apartment was severely damaged by a guest who was reportedly “unapologetic” about the ruckus she had caused.

Airbnb, in a statement, has also said that “The safety of our community is our priority and, with 2 million guests checking into an Airbnb on any given night, negative experiences are extremely rare.”

Nevertheless, the steps taken by the company prove that in order to better serve customers, businesses need to search for innovative solutions and adopt relevant tools that are synonymous with the advances of the digital age.

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