AI and the Future of Travel

Artificial intelligence (AI) is all the rage these days. Everyone is talking about how they are going to change the world. Make waves in design, art, graphics, and contracts.

But will it change travel?

I actually don’t think it will. At least, not in the near term.

Here’s why:

The internet is full of failed companies that tried to reinvent travel plans. They failed because they are actually people search planning their trip, as it gives them ownership of their trip. People like researching restaurants, finding hotels, reading blogs and guides, and figuring out what to do.

All of this brings a sense of discovery to the effort. Planning a trip gives people an emotional connection to their experience. Companies that have tried to get rid of them have failed or turned to corporate travel bookings.

That’s why I don’t think people will say, “Hey Google! Make me a trip to Hong Kong!” anytime soon.

First, the AI ​​isn’t that good yet. It is still scraping (stealing) content from blogs like this one, or from outdated posts and old websites. I’ve played around with many AI sites, asking them to plan some trips, and I’ve gotten results full of closed restaurants, poorly rated accommodations, and other outdated information. It’s going to be a long, long time before AI starts the good journey.

Second, travel is an emotional, human experience. AI I can’t tell you why you have to go to your destination. It cannot give you a sense of place or capture the magic of being there in a way that inspires you. It can give you i what but not why. It’s one thing to have an AI spit out a CV or explain how to push, it’s another to encourage it.

Most likely in the near future people will use AI to book their hotels or flights. It won’t take much for such sites to understand what kind of hotels or flights you like. You can even give it parameters (“Never book a flight before 7am” or “I prefer Delta”) and show it your past booking activity to teach it your preferences.

I suspect that soon you will be able to say, “Hey Google! Remember that hotel (or walking tour company, etc.) I booked in Vienna two years ago that I loved? Find me something similar in Paris for X days and book it.”

But I think we’re a long way from AI bots that can plan a trip as well as a human. They just can’t provide information as well as someone with ground knowledge. While you can go to them for inspiration, if these AI bots are still generating inaccurate data and you’re going to have to double-check their work anyway, I’d just avoid using them all together. Stick to guidebooks, travel blogs, and content creators. At least for now.