Interviewee: Dominique Szymura, Founder and General Manager, CityDrinks
CityDrinks is Abu Dhabi’s leading online alcohol delivery platform, renowned for its extensive selection of premium spirits, fine wines, craft beers, and an array of glassware, bar accessories, cocktail ingredients, and gourmet snacks. Designed to elevate the at-home party experience, CityDrinks provides a comprehensive range of products for every occasion.
Founded by the visionary entrepreneur Dominique Szymura, CityDrinks proudly stands as the UAE’s first 100% online home delivery alcohol service. The platform offers a seamless shopping experience through its app and website, ensuring reliable stock availability and competitive pricing. At its core, CityDrinks is a logistics powerhouse, equipped with its own fleet to guarantee swift and dependable deliveries.
In this interview, we delve into the innovative CityDrinks AI Sommelier, Genie—a game-changer in personalised beverage recommendations. Dominique Szymura shares insights into how Genie enhances the customer experience and how it could potentially fit into the world of hospitality.
Meet Genie
An AI Sommelier is an artificial intelligence system designed to assist with the selection of wine, beer, and spirits, as well as pairing, recipe guides, and recommendations. CityDrinks’ AI Sommelier, named Genie, leverages machine learning algorithms to analyse the extensive CityDrinks database and match it with specific foods, personal preferences, and contextual factors. This provides tailored recommendations to customers using the free service on the CityDrinks app.
The development of our AI Sommelier involved several stages:
- Data Collection: Gathering a comprehensive dataset of wines, including all their characteristics, such as the grape variety, the region it’s from, the type of vintage, the flavour profiles, and the ratings it has received from experts.
Example: For each wine, collect detailed information such as “Cabernet Sauvignon”, “Napa Valley”, “2018 vintage”, “notes of blackberry and oak”, and a rating of “92 points” from wine critics. - Machine Learning: Once data has been collected, a training algorithm needs to be created to sift through the data, recognising patterns and correlations between the different beverages and the factors influencing their selection.
Example: Develop a machine learning model that learns which types of wines are preferred by users who like “bold red wines” and can predict which wines a new user might enjoy based on their stated preferences and past selections. - Natural Language Processing (NLP): After a training algorithm has been generated, NLP is implemented to understand and interpret a user’s query, preferences, and feedback.
Example: Use NLP to parse a user’s request such as “I’m looking for a light, fruity wine from Italy” and extract relevant attributes to match with wines in the dataset. - Recommendation Systems: Building and fine-tuning recommendation algorithms that can provide personalised suggestions based on user inputs.
Example: Create a recommendation engine that, after analysing user preferences and past interactions, suggests specific wines that are likely to match their tastes, such as “Try this 2019 Pinot Grigio from Veneto with notes of apple and pear.”
The technology used in the development of Genie includes advanced technologies like machine learning algorithms to analyse data and make predictions based on beverages, foods, and user preferences. Natural Language Processing (NLP) allows it to understand and respond to user queries naturally. Data analytics helps it interpret beverage databases for flavour profiles and pairings, while recommendation systems provide personalised suggestions. Cloud computing ensures efficient processing and storage, and a user-friendly interface on the CityDrinks app makes interaction seamless. Continuous learning and updates keep the AI’s recommendations current and accurate.
Genie vs ChatGPT
Our AI Sommelier and ChatGPT serve distinct purposes, each tailored for different uses. Genie is specifically engineered to handle queries related to alcohol, providing expert recommendations on wines, beers, spirits, cocktails, and even food and music pairings. It understands the nuances of beverages, matching them with user preferences, and offers detailed information about grape varieties, regions, vintages, flavour profiles, and expert ratings. This specialised knowledge ensures users receive highly relevant and informed suggestions.
In contrast, ChatGPT is a general-purpose conversational AI designed to engage in a wide range of conversations on various topics. While it can provide information about wines and spirits, its knowledge in this area is not as in-depth as that of our AI Sommelier. ChatGPT’s versatility allows it to assist with numerous tasks beyond alcohol recommendations, making it a tool for diverse applications. It can engage in conversations, answer questions, and perform various functions across a broad spectrum of subjects.
The key difference lies in their functionality and domain knowledge. The AI Sommelier focuses on understanding user preferences and contexts to provide tailored beverage recommendations, suggest pairings, identify suitable drinks for specific occasions, and offer insights into beverage characteristics. Meanwhile, ChatGPT is designed to handle a wider array of conversational needs, providing broad-based information and assistance across many topics. Thus, while the AI Sommelier is highly specialised in its field, ChatGPT offers extensive conversational capabilities, making each suited to different user needs and scenarios.
Our AI Sommelier works by receiving input from users who provide information about their preferences, the meal they are planning, or other contextual details. This data is then processed using natural language processing to understand the input and extract all relevant details. By leveraging machine learning algorithms, the system analyses the data and matches it with the most suitable products in the CityDrinks beverage database, ultimately generating a list of product recommendations tailored to the user’s needs, where they can purchase those products right away.
The idea was inspired by the need to make beverage selection more accessible and less intimidating for consumers. Many people find it challenging to choose the right wine due to the vast variety available and the complexity of wine characteristics, such as flavour profiles, grape varieties, and regional differences. This can be overwhelming, especially for those who are not well-versed in the nuances of wine. Our Genie aims to democratise this process by providing expert-level advice through technology. By leveraging advanced algorithms and natural language processing, our AI can analyse individual preferences, meal pairings, and other contextual information to offer personalised recommendations. This not only simplifies the decision-making process but also enhances the overall experience for consumers, making the world of wine and other beverages more approachable and enjoyable for everyone.
What customers have to say?
Customer feedback has generally been positive. Users appreciate the convenience of having Genie to guide them through the selection process, saving them time and effort. The ability to discover new products that they might not have considered otherwise has been a significant highlight for many customers. Personalised recommendations tailored to individual tastes and preferences have also been well received, making the shopping experience more enjoyable and satisfying. Additionally, some feedback specifically highlights Genie’s effectiveness in demystifying the often complex world of wine, cocktails, beer, and spirits, making selection easier and more intuitive. This has not only helped users feel more confident in their choices but has also enhanced their overall at-home experiences by ensuring they select beverages that perfectly complement their meals. Overall, the positive responses reflect the value and impact of our AI Sommelier in transforming the way people choose and enjoy beverages.
What benefits could an AI Sommelier bring to restaurants and hospitality venues?
CityDrinks’ Genie enhances the customer experience by offering personalised recommendations for wines, beers, cocktails, and spirits, ensuring that each beverage perfectly complements the meal and enriches overall enjoyment. This service is completely free, making expert-level advice accessible to everyone without additional cost. By handling the initial stages of wine, beer, cocktail, or spirit selection, the AI reduces the workload on human sommeliers and restaurant staff, allowing them to focus on other aspects of customer service. This improves overall efficiency and ensures a smoother dining experience. Our AI Sommelier provides consistent recommendations every time, guaranteeing high-quality advice regardless of when or where it is used. This reliability builds trust and satisfaction among users. Additionally, the AI serves as a valuable training tool for staff, helping them learn about beverage pairing and selection. By interacting with the AI and observing its recommendations, staff members can deepen their understanding of all sorts of beverages, improving their ability to assist customers and enhancing their professional skills.
CityDrinks’ AI Sommelier, Genie, has great potential in the hospitality space, particularly in enhancing dining experiences by providing immediate and expert recommendations for wines, beers, cocktails, and spirits. Genie can be integrated into restaurant ordering systems, mobile apps, and websites to offer these benefits:
- Personalised Service: Genie tailors beverage suggestions to individual customer preferences, offering a highly personalised dining experience.
- Increased Sales: Expert recommendations encourage customers to try new and higher-margin products, boosting overall sales.
- Operational Efficiency: Genie streamlines the selection process for wines, beers, cocktails, and spirits, reducing the workload on human sommeliers and waitstaff, allowing them to focus on customer service.
- Consistency and Reliability: Genie provides consistent, reliable recommendations, ensuring high-quality advice every time.
- Training and Development: Genie serves as a training tool for staff, enhancing their knowledge of beverage pairing and selection.
Integrating Genie into the hospitality industry can elevate the dining experience, increase sales, improve efficiency, and provide consistent, high-quality service.
The limitations of the AI Sommelier compared to a human sommelier
Genie, while powerful, has limitations compared to a human sommelier. Firstly, Genie lacks the emotional intelligence and personal touch that a human sommelier brings, including understanding and responding to the nuanced emotions and preferences of diners. Contextual awareness is another challenge, as Genie may struggle to fully grasp the atmosphere and unique nuances of a dining experience, such as special occasions or specific customer expectations. Additionally, human sommeliers excel in adaptability, handling unexpected situations and complex customer requests with flexibility and intuition—traits that AI currently finds difficult to replicate. Lastly, while Genie can access vast amounts of data, the deep expertise and intuitive understanding developed through years of experience that human sommeliers possess remain challenging for AI to match.
