Utah Companies Lead the Way in Real-World AI Applications | KSL.com

PARK CITY — While Utah lawmakers debate the regulation of artificial intelligence, two companies based in the state are already deploying AI for clients, offering a glimpse into the technology’s practical applications and potential impact. These deployments are yielding significant results in healthcare and hospitality, suggesting AI’s transformative power is already being felt beyond policy discussions.

Shawn Miele, CEO of MyAdvice, a Park City-based digital marketing firm serving over a thousand healthcare providers, made a substantial investment in AI three years ago. “We viewed AI as either the biggest opportunity of our lifetimes or an existential threat,” Miele said. “It’s probably both.” The result is Maya, an AI system built in-house by MyAdvice. Unlike generic chatbots, Maya utilizes custom small language models tailored to each client’s specific practice – its voice, services, patients, and brand. A dental office in Provo, for example, has a different AI interface than a law firm in Salt Lake City.

This customization is key to building trust, according to Miele. Generic AI models are prone to “hallucinations” – confidently presenting inaccurate information. By training Maya on verified data specific to each practice, MyAdvice significantly reduces the risk of inaccurate responses. “The AI does it in a way that is replicable so that you’re always delivering a certain quality standard,” Miele explained. “Whereas, you have humans in the chain, sometimes that quality can be more variable.”

The data from MyAdvice’s deployments is notable. Conversion rates on client websites have roughly tripled after switching to Maya for chat functions. Response times to online reviews, which previously averaged over 20 days, now consistently fall under 24 hours, with nearly 100 percent of reviews receiving a response. This represents a substantial shift in workload for healthcare professionals.

“Now that the doctor doesn’t have to do that, they can see more patients — which is a higher value activity for that position,” Miele said.

Meanwhile, in the hotel industry, Scott Van Hartesvelt, founder of GCommerce, a digital marketing agency managing online presence for 2,500 properties, is confronting a similar challenge. He describes the current AI-driven shift as “faster and more disruptive than anything I’ve experienced in 24 years.” The core issue is that travelers increasingly use AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini to plan and book trips, often routing transactions through third-party sites like Expedia and Booking.com, cutting hotels off from direct customer relationships and subjecting them to commission fees.

Van Hartesvelt draws a parallel to the period following the September 11, 2001, attacks, when Expedia and Booking.com capitalized on industry disruption to establish themselves as intermediaries between hotels and their guests. “It’s happening again,” he said. “If you watch ChatGPT ads on TV, they’re almost always about travel. They know this is a massive industry that is not effectively serving its customers — and they’re like, ‘You can do better.'”

Research from Skift indicates the complexity of the travel planning process, with the average traveler visiting 141 separate pages over 45 days before booking a hotel. An Accenture study found that 66% of travelers do not enjoy the planning process. GCommerce is developing a solution to directly integrate hotel inventory into AI systems, ensuring that when a traveler asks an AI for lodging options, the hotel’s own availability and pricing are displayed, rather than listings from third-party sites. This aims to rebuild the direct connection between hotels and customers that has been eroded in the digital age.

Miele and Van Hartesvelt both believe the current policy discussions surrounding AI are lagging behind the reality of its deployment. The AI already operating in Utah dental offices and hotel booking systems is actively responding to patient reviews, answering website inquiries, and influencing travel decisions. Both acknowledge the challenges of building trust, addressing staff concerns, and ensuring transparency for customers.

“Utah is so bought in on technology,” Miele said. “We are absolutely in the same race as Silicon Valley. And I think we’re going to be a leader in AI going forward.”