Those who are open to innovations are best equipped to make the most of artificial intelligence for their businesses, delegates at the recent ITB Berlin travel trade show in Germany were told. For example, AI enables the search and reservation processes to at last “escape the tyranny of the search bar.”

According to seminar speaker Dr. Patrick Andrae, CEO of holiday homes provider HomeToGo, the new AI tools are far from being standardized or established on specific platforms, even those that have been around for some years, if in a rudimentary form.

In view of this, even those in the software field who are interested should remain receptive to all kinds of developments, he said, recalling the humanized paper clip used by Microsoft some years ago to familiarize users with its Office package, which, “all of a sudden … has become apparent.”

Andrae believes that in the near future with artificial intelligence, there will firstly be “innovators, improvers, and those that disappear” in a similar way to the evolution of smartphones.

He pointed out that the contribution last year by artificial intelligence to the travel sector’s sales was already 32%.

His company attracts users with the Beta version of an app that integrates AI in the search for holiday homes. Those who use it receive a compilation of searches and offers from the surrounding geographical area as well as from the context of the search terms’ subject matter. AI assists in defining the extent of their intentions and requirements.

“AI acts as a companion who, where doubts exist, offers alternatives,” Andrae said.

At the same time, the supplier benefits from the improved quality and precision of the results found.

Andrae draws a distinction between three levels in this development: new user experiences, improvements to the experiences obtained, and visible as well as invisible implementations.

Under no circumstances, he says, will there be a “time after artificial intelligence.

“AI,” he says, “has arrived. And will remain.”