by It’s official, we’re living in endless episodes of a dystopian TV show Black Mirror. With the debut of ChatGPT’s “generative AI” platform at the end of 2022, we can get artificial intelligence to write emails, give parenting advice and even make heartfelt wedding vows. You may not want to believe that its capabilities are catching up with humans yet but at the recent AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in November, King Charles addressed a room full of tech titans and world leaders saying that artificial intelligence was “less important than the discovery of electricity, the splitting of the atom, the creation of the world wide web or even the harnessing of fire”.
As a travel journalist and trend forecaster I’ve been testing how “Gen AI” tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard can be used in my work, and reporting on interesting applications of technology to make trip planning and booking easier. I even challenged him to try writing this article: “Have you ever been overwhelmed by the many options when planning a trip? AI is here to simplify that. By analyzing your past travels, your preferences, and even your social media activity, AI-powered platforms can recommend destinations, hotels, and activities that suit your personal taste. Imagine logging into an app and instantly getting a list of destinations you’re bound to love, complete with boutique hotels, quaint cafes, and hidden gems,” ChatGPT wrote in seconds.
He says: “The rise of AI-powered chatbots means you have a travel assistant in your pocket, ready to answer your questions at any time. These virtual assistants are becoming more sophisticated, providing real-time assistance with booking flights, recommending local experiences, and even offering language assistance. No more waiting on hold for customer service; Instant support is just a chat away. AI is also revolutionizing how we find the best travel deals. With dynamic pricing, AI algorithms analyze market trends to offer competitive prices on flights and accommodation. This means you could spend a lot on that luxury option or find a bargain flight to your dream destination – thanks to intelligent AI-enabled pricing strategies.”
What do people think about all this? Will robots take over? According to an Oliver Wyman survey of 1,100 leisure travelers in the US and Canada who used Gen AI for travel planning, inspiration or booking, 84% were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the quality of recommendations. Another recent survey by Expedia of 20,000 respondents revealed that nearly 40% of people would likely use Gen AI for tasks such as researching hotels, comparing flights, and getting ideas for things to do. We may be in the first flush of a new relationship though, and things will go downhill once we get jaded…
Rafat Ali, co-founder of US travel media and information company Skift, says that after the initial hype, from a consumer perspective, Gen AI has not “set the world on fire”, but that “a lot of possibilities are coming”. Ali says it could “spell the end of the ‘tyranny of the search box’ that has existed since the first internet booking sites appeared in the mid-nineties”. He says: “Generative AI is already changing the way you search – whether it’s a text chatbot or voice commands or uploading a photo or video where you say, ‘What’s this place?’ or ‘Find me a place like this’. All of that can be done now so the way we search for travel is going to be a lot more informal and you could spark an argument because it’s less structured.”
Henry Coutinho-Mason, trend forecaster and author The Ordinary Future, agrees: “Gen AI will mean that trip planning will be more conversation-like, rather than the current drop-down search filters, especially as voice inputs become commonplace. But it will also change the travel experience in more subtle, but welcome ways. During the trip, real-time translation will communicate seamlessly; AI will automatically step into the bureaucracy and guide it in case of canceled flights or lost luggage; after the trip, it will automatically create movies, like Apple’s Memories or Google’s Photo Stack today, but much more intelligent – adding animations, soundtracks, voices and cinematic effects.”
Travel search engine Kaydhc was an “early adopter” of ChatGPT, incorporating it into its “Best Time to Travel” tool – a service that provides recommendations for the best month to travel, prioritizing a combination of predictive flight price , weather, and crowd considerations, based on internal and external data Matthias Keller, chief scientist and senior vice president of technology at travel search engine Kayak says: “We train and use AI to help predict price trends, to bring out the most relevant content from millions of reviews from actual travelers, to help make personalized recommendations for travelers, and to help identify and present the best hotel images.”
Ali concluded: “The promise of AI is that if you’re a logged-in user on a platform that knows your history, how you travel and what you’ve booked in the past, then it seems matching the right kind of results is enough Airbnb has said that its search functionality will be completely different next year. I’m looking forward to that because it’s the kind of company that has the resources and the creativity to be able to come up with something like that.”
Here are six ways Gen AI will change the way we plan, book and experience travel in 2024…
Thought conversation
Usually, vacation planning starts with typing something like “best winter destinations” into Google, and then clicking on various links to articles that are often behind a paywall. Gen AI is changing that with the emergence of conversational ideas. Companies like Expedia and Kayak have already embedded ChatGPT windows into their websites so you can chat with the bot like you would a friend on WhatsApp. You can type a whole paragraph for your brief and go from there – you don’t have to worry about keywords and you can keep asking follow-up questions. On Expedia, it will automatically save hotels recommended for a dedicated “tour” in the app ready for you to compare and book if you wish.
Custom itineraries
Putting together an itinerary can take hours of cross-referencing and planning but Tripadvisor’s new ChatGPT integration can do it in seconds. You can enter your destination, dates, people you’re traveling with and interests, and it will come up with a stream of hour-by-hour recommendations for each day you’re there, complete with photos . What’s really smart is that these recommendations are based on a database of more than a billion user reviews. The itinerary can then be easily modified, saved and shared.
Curated inspiration
Many people get an initial idea of where they want to go on holiday from social media or a friend, but when it comes to deciding where to stay it can be more difficult, unless there is a hotel particular to you. Bridging the gap between inspiration and bookings, Booking.com’s new ChatGPT-powered AI Trip Planner generates a visual list of properties and prices based on whatever parameters you want to provide (such as near the sea or not too -tourism), with deep. -links to see the hotels in more detail. Users can go back and forth between their chatbot conversation and the Booking.com app interface until they make up their mind. Once they’re ready, one tap will complete the booking.
Deepfake invitations
Most people associate “deepfakes” with nefarious practices such as disrupting geopolitics with fake videos of presidential speeches (this happened in 2023 when hackers used AI to create a convincing simulacrum of President Putin that was broadcast on Russian TV). But what about Tom Cruise deepfake? Inspired by this widely shared TikTok meme, Virgin Voyages has turned official brand ambassador Jennifer Lopez into a super-feat “Jen AI” who will appear in a customizable video travel invitation that you can send to friends or family. Enter your names, the occasion, how you like to celebrate and where you would like to travel. How can you say no to J-Lo?
Social reservations
Bridging the gap between short-form video content on social media and vacation bookings, Layla is a gen-AI startup with an Instagram Travel Planner activated by direct messages. Co-founder Saad Saeed said in a statement: “Visual search is the future of travel for younger consumers. Our product gives users exactly what they want, in a medium they like to consume and on platforms where they spend most of their time. With a few simple swipes of your finger, you can ask Layla to find beaches like the Maldives in a more affordable and less touristy destination. From a few simple Instagram DM exchanges, Layla will recommend the best flights, accommodation and activities according to your budget and interests, along with accompanying video content.”
Virtual instructions
Another innovator is Tailbox, which wants to bring together interactive maps, customized experiences, social gatherings and local knowledge in one “easy-to-use application”. Co-founder Bayazid Maliko said in a statement: “Imagine walking through Rome and getting a real-time, AI-generated story about the Colosseum tailored specifically to your interest in ancient history, while someone else might get a story focusing on the architectural wonders. of the same monument. AI holds the key to unlocking them.” One could even imagine hearing the voices of long-dead heroes come to life as you stroll around, say, Paris, with the late French singer Edith Piaf as your guide (after all, Warner Music Group is using from AI to recreate her voice to comment on her upcoming film Piaf).
