COULD AI REPLACE TRAVEL PLANNERS?

Robotic hand pressing a keyboard on a laptop 3D rendering

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no stranger to the travel industry. Many travel companies¬¬ – including major airlines, hotels, and car rental companies – leverage AI in a variety of ways, enabling travellers and agents to quickly make changes to bookings, elevating experiences through personalized controls, and managing customer service inquiries. But has AI advanced so much that it can actually provide a perfect travel itinerary for one’s next trip? The short answer – it’s complicated.

Industry views on ChatGPT

Though AI has long played a role in our industry, a generative chatbot emerged last fall, prompting discussions about how its capabilities could shape the future of our industry and the traveler experience.

Since its launch in November by OpenAI, ChatGPT has made headlines for its ability to perform a wide variety of tasks – from writing emails and essays to generating lines of code – in a short time. Now, it’s beginning to find its footing within the travel industry.

Expedia, which already uses artificial intelligence across its platform, recently integrated ChatGPT, into its mobile app to provide travellers with “conversational trip planning.” Through engaging with ChatGPT, travellers can receive personalized recommendations on destinations, accommodation, and activities for their next trip. Expedia also built a plugin for ChatGPT’s site so members who inquire about travel plans on ChatGPT’s site can be directed to Expedia’s website once they’re ready to book.

“By integrating ChatGPT into the Expedia app and combining it with our other AI-based shopping capabilities, like hotel comparison, price tracking for flights and trip collaboration tools, we can now offer travelers an even more intuitive way to build their perfect trip,” stated Expedia Group Vice Chairman and CEO Peter Kern.

According to the New York Times, Expedia’s integration with ChatGPT could save travellers a significant amount of time planning their trip when used in tandem with data the company already tracks. It’s important to note, though, that this integration is still in a beta testing phase, and despite efforts to minimize inaccurate or irrelevant responses, Expedia warned in its announcement that “at times the experience may not work exactly as expected.”

Travelocity founder Terry Jones believes ChatGPT “will radically improve sales conversion and customer satisfaction, if implemented correctly.” Jones points out that current customization models often rely on dropdown menus, which often aren’t inclusive of all aspects of a trip that could be personalized for travellers. By sharing their wish list of amenities up front, travellers would likely be served options that more closely meet their expectations – potentially leading to a higher rate of sales.

Despite ChatGPT’s capabilities, travel companies – and travelers – should proceed with caution. Innovations in technology are exciting – especially when considering how those advancements might enhance the traveller experience for the future –but ChatGPT isn’t a ready-to-implement replacement for DIY travel planning.

EuroNews recently put ChatGPT to the test and asked it to plan a ‘dream’ two-week trip around Europe. Writers were less than impressed with the results, claiming the locations that ChatGPT suggested are prone to over-tourism and cited a lack of awareness of current political and environmental situations that could influence travellers’ plans.

One of the reasons for the less-than-favourable review of ChatGPT is that it can’t access any information beyond 2021 – and that’s only one of a series of other limitations.

Limitations and controversy

ChatGPT is free to use but its information base limitations pose a greater risk of sharing biased, discriminatory, misinformative and outdated information. This also means it can’t access up-to-date travel-related data that is subject to frequent changes, restricting its real-time helpfulness to travelers.

Additionally, there are concerns regarding ChatGPT’s lack of regulation, specifically with regard to data privacy. In fact, Italy recently became the first country to ban ChatGPT, and other countries may soon follow their lead.

So, what now?

ChatGPT has prompted conversations about the role AI could play in the future for travel. But given its limitations and ongoing privacy and security concerns, it’s difficult to make predictions as to what may happen over the next five, 10, 20 years and beyond.

But as CNBC Travel Editor Monica Pitrelli, who asked ChatGPT to plan a vacation, only to experience a series of misses and inaccurate information, says: “Travel agents’ jobs are secure – for the time being.”

(This article was provided by US Travel and lightly edited.)