Meet world’s first AI cabin crew: Qatar Airways’ Sama 2.0

Qatar Airways has unveiled an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital human cabin crew, a holographic figure named Sama 2.0, to assist passengers in designing curated travel experiences.

The carrier said Sama 2.0 can answer questions in real-time such as Qatar Airways FAQs, destinations and support tips.

The AI cabin crew, which was launched at the ITB Berlin travel and trade exhibition, is accessible through QVerse, Qatar Airways’ immersive digital platform, as well as through the airline’s mobile app.

Sama was developed in partnership with UneeQ, a New Zealand-based intelligent AI interface firm and the cabin crew is poised to create benchmarks for personalised and functional service interactions in air travel.

“This is a monumental point in spearheading the successful synergy between technology and human connection – not only for Qatar Airways but also for the industry at large,” said Babar Rahman, Qatar Airways’ vice president of Marketing.

Sama is fluent in English and the airline said she will expand to Arabic and other languages later this year to cater to its global audience.

The flag carrier said that Sama delivers conversation through generative AI (GenAI), powered by Synanim, UneeQ’s real-time, lifelike animation technology.

The airline recently unveiled its generative AI experience for hassle-free and personalised travel planning. The experience leverages comprehensive visual interactions and an interactive 3D map to understand customers’ travel preferences.

Qatar Airways posted a significant jump in net profit for the first half of financial year 2023/24 on the back of strong demand. The airline’s profit soared 113.8 per cent year-over-year to $1.03bn (QAR3.74bn) in the first six months of its financial year while its revenue rose 7.4 per cent to reach QAR40.13bn.

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