ChatGPT’s availability of specific verifiable applications in specific business sectors could go a long way in highlighting it as a monetizable asset. Current use cases for generative artificial intelligence are limited and may seem like a stopgap, but researchers say customer service is a prime target, with use cases growing significantly over the next year. expected to grow exponentially. As such, the travel sector, once reshaped in the early days of the internet, is likely to be a place of rapid adoption.
Generative AI is already being experimented with in the travel industry, with mixed results. One of the significant limitations of ChatGPT’s application to travel to date is that its data will not extend beyond September 2021. This is a problem at the moment, especially in the world of travel where information needs to be up to date in order to be useful.
Already today, online travel agencies are being rebuilt from the inside out by AI, and even if travelers don’t realize it, the recommendations and decisions they provide are being influenced by technology.
Glenn Vogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, the parent company of Booking.com, said: “Every step of our platform is rooted in the customer’s journey.”
This includes personalized travel recommendations and machine translation for over 40 languages and dialects.
How AI can become your personal travel assistant
Now, travel industry leaders are pondering the impact of the latest iteration on the new competition between Microsoft-funded OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, among other early examples of public-generated AI. Large language models at the heart of generative AI “provide interesting possibilities, especially for itinerary creation and answering questions,” he said. But the main consideration, he said, is not to replace human interaction.
“Travel is fundamentally about connecting people and communities, and that human connection will always play an important role in the travel experience,” said Vogel.
However, humans do not have the power of AI to analyze vast databases, adding new levels of value and travel support for travelers, and human interaction will continue to play an important role in shaping the overall travel experience. fulfill. “The innovation happening in the travel industry is to further enrich the human interaction between travelers and suppliers her partners while creating massive efficiencies,” he said.
Booking Holding’s Kayak platform recently announced in a blog post authored by ChatGPT and edited by Kayak staff that it will officially integrate ChatGPT and gradually expand to more users. We’ve described ChatGPT as a “virtual travel assistant” that allows for more conversational interactions with Kayak’s search engine.
“By simply entering a natural language query like ‘Where can I go from NYC in April for less than $500?’ users will receive personalized recommendations based on their search criteria and Kayak’s historical travel data. You can,” said the blog.
AI’s ability to understand and analyze natural language also enables more personalized recommendations. According to the blog, “When someone asks, ‘I’m looking for a New York City hotel near Central Park,’ ChatGPT understands the traveler’s specific needs and preferences and makes customized recommendations based on that information.” You can ask Kayak to provide you with a .
Airport stress and anxiety is another focus
This role of AI as a travel assistant tracks travelers through their experiences, including the ability to quickly intervene when travel plans are disrupted.
“The potential of AI to remove friction, surface value, anticipate potential problems, and intervene in real-time solutions when trips go awry is what keeps our team moving.” Fogel said. “We ultimately hope to replicate and even exceed the day-to-day usability and personal feeling of traditional travel agencies through the power and use of cutting-edge technology, and AI is at the heart of it. is,” he said.
There may be no better example of today’s travel planning chaos than the airport experience. That’s why Matt Breed, chief information officer at his Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, made improving his customer’s experience at the airport one of his top goals, and was an early adopter of AI. .
“Travel has always been accompanied by a lot of anxiety,” said Breed, largely due to the sheer amount of unknowns that come with air travel, making airports an especially challenging experience. He added, “How long will it take me to get through security? Will I have time to eat something? What kind of shopping can I do near the gate?”
Breed predicts that intensive use of AI and generative AI tools such as ChatGPT could eliminate or alleviate at least some of the anxiety.
He envisions AI as an itinerary analyzer, ingesting multiple real-time information sources to help optimize passenger journeys. In other words, travel personal he is your assistant.
“Matt, there is a little bit more traffic to the airport today. We recommend leaving at 5:25am. Given the expected TSA pre-check wait time, go to a Starbucks near gate N15. We should have time. Will you be ready when we arrive?” AI could suggest.
Breed is betting on this hypothesis that bringing technology into customers’ pockets and personalizing their use will soon become a reality. “This kind of scenario isn’t too far off, especially with real-time data that’s out there now or coming in the near future in his feed,” he said.
Behind the scenes at Seattle Tacoma, AI is also playing a big role in operations, and there’s plenty of room for improvement. The airport uses the Assaia Apron AI system for superficial decision-making, and while it may not interact directly with travelers, it is customer-focused.
“Being able to incrementally adjust operations based on suggestions from AI can have a significant impact on the efficiency of aircraft parking and turning, helping us avoid delays that travelers really hate.” said Breed.
Scheduling at airports is always a challenge, with staffing, baggage handling, and plane parking. AI can play a big role in optimizing future operations, especially as it allows us to view data in real time across multiple systems. “One of the most impressive things I’ve seen with GPT-4 is its ability to provide structure and organization around data that at first glance seems very unstructured and chaotic,” he said. Breed said.
Online booking sites and apps are already hugely successful
With all the ChatGPT buzz, travel analysts warn that it’s easy to overlook an industry context in which new technologies are constantly emerging and often exaggerated at the time of their introduction.
“The travel industry is a buzzword,” says Max Starkov, who has been a consultant in the hospitality and online travel industry for 30 years. “When blockchain came along, the industry declared that travel would never be the same.The same thing happened when the first delivery and waiter robots were born.The Metaverse?”Is this how people will travel in the future? It’s the way to do it!”
Rather than looking at new technology in revolutionary terms, Starkov suggests using the more boring term: tools.
“All of these technologies are advanced tools that enable smart operators and vendors to better serve their customers and grow their market share in the process,” he said.
He said the biggest winners will be OTAs like Booking Holdings, which have already implemented plugins to ChatGPT such as Kayak, Expedia and Trip.com, and integrated ChatGPT into their chatbots and virtual agents on their websites. to enable the itinerary creation feature.
“By adding AI as a planning tool, OTAs can shorten the digital customer journey and move travelers from the planning phase of the customer journey to the booking phase almost instantly,” said Starkov.
This means less time from proposal to booking.
“OTA is ready to make AI-suggested itineraries bookable across 2.5 million multi-room accommodations, 6 million vacation rentals, 600 airlines, 250,000 local experiences, and more.”
And while human travel agents have a role to play today, and few would dare to talk about AI as nothing more than a complement to human workers, Starkov was more outspoken. . “The losers are traditional travel agencies, tour operators, independent hotels and restaurants who do not have the financial, human and technical capacity to leverage ChatGPT,” he said.
He says the evidence is already there.
“OTA has already proven two of ChatGPT’s main uses in travel: travel planning and customer service,” said Starkov.
For example, Expedia, Trip.com, and Kayak.com were “blazing fast” to implement plugins in ChatGPT that make ChatGPT suggestions bookable. Expedia and Trip.com have integrated ChatGPT into their websites and mobile apps to enable travel planning and itinerary functionality.
“Things will go fast from here,” he said. “In the coming weeks and months, we expect smart airlines to add generative AI-powered travel planning, language translation, and customer service chatbots.”
Reflecting Breed’s view, he said more airports are adding information and customer service chatbots to their websites and mobile apps to handle passenger inquiries, provide airline schedules, We believe it will provide directions, shopping and dining information, and alert you to traffic and schedule disruptions.
But Starkov isn’t sure which parts of the travel experience AI will actually make easier.
ChatGPT defines a unique and perfect use case in travel as an enhanced chatbot, virtual assistant, content translator, marketing and website copywriting. In a blog post written for his Kayak, AI said, “We’ve decided that robots aren’t ready to rule the world yet… but are ready to help people find travel.”
None are guaranteed to eliminate many of the core anxieties and frustrations that accompany travel, but they have the potential to reduce wait times, make the seeming chaos more orderly, and make the unknown less frustrating. I have. And if you can’t always do that, at least you can order a cappuccino while you wait.
