How a family uses AI to plan a round-the-world trip

“We are stepping into uncharted territory,” Motamedhi told an insider. “We are like guinea pigs to the world because we literally put our lives in the hands of AI.”

Courtesy of Michael Motamedi

Travel influencer Michael Motamedhi uses AI to plan his family’s six-month round-the-world trip.
GuideGeek, an AI travel assistant, decides which countries to visit. First destination: Morocco.
This is an experiment on how artificial intelligence can change the way we travel, Motamedhi told an insider.

Travel influencers Michael Motamedhi and Vanessa Salas typically spend days, if not weeks, researching travel plans for themselves and their 18-month-old daughter.

But on Wednesday, the family used an AI chatbot to determine their next destination within an hour. I was planning to go to Morocco.

Over the next six months, digital nomad families will entrust the management of their itineraries to artificial intelligence. This experiment forms the basis for a new web series called “No Fixed Address.”

“I can’t explain the tension I feel working on this,” Motamedhi said in an interview with Insider. “It’s nerve-wracking when you can’t make a decision. It’s kind of a weird, out-of-body experience.”

Media not supported by AMP.
Tap for the full mobile experience.

Motamedi is producing the show in partnership with GuideGeek, a free AI travel assistant that uses ChatGPT technology owned by Matador Network. The newly launched chatbot plans nearly every stage of a family’s journey, from choosing different cities to visit to deciding where to eat each day. GuideGeek declined to disclose financial terms of the partnership.

After living in a new country for a month, Motamedi asks GuideGeek where to go next based on general interests: nice beaches, interesting architecture, delicious food. Her family will make real-time arrangements such as booking flights and finding housing, he said.

“I will choose the next place when I go to Morocco,” he told an insider. “That’s the funny thing about this whole trip – you never know where you’ll end up in July.”

Motamedhi and Salas tested the technology in April using a chatbot to plan a date night in Mexico City. GuideGeek provided not only local history facts, but also liquor and drink recommendations.

Media not supported by AMP.
Tap for the full mobile experience.

Motamedidi said the recommendations resulted in a “wonderful evening” but argued that the new technology should be used as a helpful tool, not as a replacement for online videos and articles based on human interaction and personal experiences. are doing.

“Using AI as a tool? Of course,” he said. “I don’t care if the AI had a good time drinking tea, because the AI doesn’t know what tea tastes like.”

Motameddy said he was confident in the nascent technology, but he (and his mother) was “terrified” of having a robot plan his family’s life for the next six months.

Artificially intelligent chatbots based on large language models like ChatGPT are known to “hallucinate” and fabricate false information, making relying on bots to make important travel decisions a real risk. It can affect your life. Motamedhi experienced this first-hand when she asked GuideGeek to provide a history of pastry shops in Mexico City, but after speaking with a local owner, realized it was inaccurate.

Motameddy said he knows chatbots are bound to make mistakes, and will not blindly follow their advice, but will occasionally fact-check the results.

“Family comes first,” he said. “Just because Google Maps tells you to go left and you see a lake in front of you doesn’t mean you’re going into that lake.”