AI for dive centers: what it is, how big companies use it and why you shouldn’t miss out
Quick summary. Artificial intelligence (AI) is software that understands and generates language, sorts information and makes simple decisions based on examples. Large companies already use it to answer customers and remove repetitive work, although only a minority see a strong impact on their profits. A dive center has it easier than they do: short processes, highly repetitive tasks and an owner who can change how things work in a single afternoon.
I’m Sergio del Val, a PADI instructor and Apeks and Aqualung regulator technician at a PADI 5-star center in Tenerife. In this guide I separate what the data says from what is pure hype, and I explain what makes sense for a dive center and what doesn’t.
What is artificial intelligence, explained without jargon?
Artificial intelligence is a type of software that learns patterns from a huge number of examples and uses them to do tasks that only a person used to do: understand a message, write a reply, summarize a document or classify an enquiry. The best known today is generative AI, the kind behind tools such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, which writes text from an instruction.
It’s worth not confusing it with automation, which is something else and usually the one that saves the most work in a small business:
| Automation | Artificial intelligence | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Follows fixed rules: “if A happens, do B” | Interprets language and cases that aren’t written into a rule |
| Example in a dive center | When a booking is confirmed, send the medical form and add it to the calendar | Read “is there a Discover Scuba tomorrow for two, with 12-year-old kids?” and understand what is being asked |
| Reliability | Very high: it always does the same thing | High on simple tasks, but it can make mistakes |
| When to use it | Repetitive, predictable tasks | Varied messages and texts |
What really works is combining them: AI understands the customer’s message and automation carries out the steps, always with a person in charge.
How is AI improving the margins of large companies?
The honest answer: the improvement is real, but it’s concentrated. According to McKinsey’s The State of AI report (November 2025), based on a global survey of companies:
- 88% of organizations already use AI in at least one business function, but only around a third have scaled it across the company.
- 39% attribute some impact on their operating profit (EBIT) to AI, and in most of those cases it is less than 5%.
- Many companies do see cost savings in specific use cases, especially in software development, manufacturing and IT.
- The group that gains the most, around 6%, doesn’t just buy tools: it redesigns how it works and keeps people validating what the AI does.
The Klarna case: the good part and the lesson
The most cited example is Klarna, the Swedish buy-now-pay-later fintech. In February 2024 it announced that its AI assistant was handling two thirds of its customer service chats: 2.3 million conversations in its first month, with average resolution time dropping from 11 minutes to under 2, and an estimated profit improvement of 40 million dollars for that year. In 2025 the company raised that figure to around 60 million.
The lesson came afterwards: in 2025 Klarna admitted it had lost quality on complex cases and hired people again to handle them. AI kept doing the easy, repetitive work; humans did the work that matters. That balance is exactly what makes sense in a dive center.
What about Spain? The wave has already reached small businesses
According to the latest INE (Spanish National Statistics Institute) survey on ICT use in companies (data from the first quarter of 2025), 21.1% of companies with 10 or more employees use artificial intelligence, 8.7 points more than a year earlier. Among companies with fewer than 10 employees, which is the size of most dive centers, the figure is 13.4%, almost 6 points more than the previous year.
In other words: most small businesses still don’t use it, but adoption is growing fast. It’s a good time to start calmly, before it becomes the norm.
Why shouldn’t riding the wave be a problem for a dive center?
1. Being small is an advantage, not a brake
What separates the companies that win with AI from those that don’t is redesigning processes. In a multinational that takes committees and months. In a dive center, the booking process fits on a napkin and the person who decides to change it is at the front desk.
2. Your tasks are exactly the ones it handles best
Klarna saved on the repetitive and simple. In a dive center that’s most of the office work: “is there space on Saturday?”, “what does the Open Water include?”, “where do we meet?”, “do I need a medical certificate?”. They are the same questions hundreds of times per season.
3. You don’t need programmers or a data department
The tools already exist and run on channels you already know: WhatsApp, email, Google Calendar or a booking form. There’s no need to set up servers or hire developers.
4. It doesn’t replace your team
A dive center sells trust and experience underwater, and that can’t be automated. AI removes the hours spent typing so the instructor can spend their time on the customer, not on the phone.
5. You start small and measure
You don’t have to transform the whole business. You pick one task, automate it, measure how much time it saves and only then move on to the next. If it doesn’t work, you switch it off and nothing happens.
Where NOT to use artificial intelligence in a dive center
Knowing where not to use it is as important as knowing where to use it. From my experience as an instructor, these decisions must always stay in the hands of a qualified person:
- Medical fitness. AI can spot a “yes” on the questionnaire and alert you; deciding whether someone can dive is a doctor’s job.
- Sea conditions. Cancelling or keeping a trip is a decision for the team that knows the dive site.
- Diver level and experience. Assigning dives based on certification and real experience requires professional judgement.
- Complaints and incidents. An upset customer needs to talk to a person, not a bot.
How to ride the wave without going under: 4 steps
- Write down a week of repeated tasks. Which questions you answer, which paperwork you chase and how much time they take.
- Pick just one. The most repeated and least sensitive, usually confirmations or frequently asked questions.
- Always leave a human way out. If the enquiry gets complicated, the message goes to a person on the team.
- Measure and decide. If it saves time without customer complaints, expand; if not, adjust it or remove it.
If you want to see which specific tasks can be automated, I explain it step by step in the practical guide to dive center automation.
Frequently asked questions
Is artificial intelligence going to replace dive instructors?
No. AI can take care of messages, paperwork and reminders, but teaching, guiding underwater and making safety decisions is still the work of qualified people.
What is the difference between artificial intelligence and automation?
Automation follows fixed rules, such as sending a form every time a booking comes in. Artificial intelligence interprets language, such as understanding what a customer is asking for in a WhatsApp message. In a dive center they work best together.
Can AI answer my customers’ WhatsApp messages?
Yes, the frequent and repetitive questions, such as schedules, prices or what to bring. The recommended approach is for complex or sensitive cases to go to a person on the team.
Is it legal to use AI with my customers’ data?
Yes, as long as you comply with the GDPR, taking special care with health data, and with the transparency obligations of the EU AI Act, such as telling customers they are talking to an automated system. Check it with your data protection advisor.
Where do I start if I’ve never used AI in my center?
With a single repetitive, low-sensitivity task, such as confirming bookings or answering frequently asked questions. Measure the time it saves before adding anything else.
Sources
- McKinsey: The state of AI in 2025
- Klarna: press release on its AI assistant (February 2024)
- INE: Survey on ICT and e-commerce use in companies (in Spanish)
About the author
Sergio del Val is an active PADI instructor and a regulator technician certified by Apeks and Aqualung. He has been working for almost three years at a PADI 5-star center in Tenerife and founded DiveScan to build automations designed from inside a dive center.
Which part of your center could run on autopilot?
Book a free 20-minute assessment: we review your day-to-day tasks and I’ll tell you where AI makes sense, where it doesn’t and which one to start with.
