Panem, Circenses, and Prompt Engineering: What Ancient Rome Already Knew About AI
Andrzej Wajda traces the AI revolution back to Antiquity, arguing that what we call automation today is structurally indistinguishable from what ancient Romans achieved through slavery — and that Aristotle essentially predicted it. The real lesson for hospitality, he contends, is not technological but perennial: if you cannot manage people and operations well today, no tool, ancient or artificial, will save you.
The entire AI revolution, automation, and robotization are nothing new. Ancient Romans (let's take them as our case study) would have a fantastic "Back to the Future" moment waking up in our times. I dare say it wouldn't be anything novel to them. With a certain caveat, of course. Back then, everything AI does now was done by people. Only slower. Only at the level of knowledge available at the time. Only physical and intellectual labor within the reach of a human of that era. However, the entire surrounding entourage was completely natural, just as it will be for us in a few or a dozen years when we learn to live with it. Or maybe not.
Because (and this is precisely where we can learn a lot from our ancestors), this is still simply another avatar of technology and its development. And just as every technological revolution has changed a great deal, it hasn't changed one thing: human nature. And it probably never will. So, there will be just as many heavy users utilizing AI at an almost superhuman level, gaining an advantage over the rest of society thanks to these technologies. Likewise, there will be individuals who, perhaps not rejecting knowledge, will approach AI with distance, focusing mainly on the humanistic element. They will be practitioners of, to quote Simone Puorto, Humans-as-Luxury (Puorto, 2025). They will simultaneously be the elite and the pariahs of humanity, depending on the perspective from which they are judged. Let's remember that in Rome, a freedman did not even gain full civil rights, because even as a slave, he was highly protected, especially compared to the status of a slave in modern times. Rather, he gained exactly that: dignity, humanity, the human touch.
The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Technology Edition
The 2026 HOTEL Yearbook Technology Edition - AI Everywhere is fully geared towards AI and explores how hospitality technology is preparing for a decade of profound change. With a clear focus on practical impact rather than hype, this edition examines how intelligence is becoming embedded across the hotel technology stack and day-to-day workflows, reshaping operations, revenue, distribution, guest experience, and the back office.
The publication will feature 40 editorial articles by domain experts, combined with a catalog of AI Solution Snapshots, offering readers both strategic insight and a curated overview of AI products currently available to the market, as well as an AI Glossary - a glossary of the most commonly used AI-related terms in hospitality. It brings together a wide spectrum of contributors, including academics, startups, hotel brands, established solution providers, and industry insiders, offering evidence-led perspectives, real-world lessons, and actionable guidance on what hoteliers should prioritize now to stay competitive in an AI-driven future. The publication will launch at HITEC 2026, San Antonio.