Can AI Help Me Plan My Trip?
Yes, Sort of, For Now
Unless you’re living under rock, you’ve been exposed to the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly customer-facing sites like ChatGPT and Bing Images (now part of Microsoft CoPilot). One of the things many folks have tried out is travel planning, like sample or “starter” itineraries for a particular city or destination. You can also ask about restaurants,
As we seem to be moving from a “search engine” based world of Google and Expedia, to a more conversational one with AI, will this make things easier? I do think so, but it’s early and a bit messy right now.
What seems to work right now?
If you’re going to a major city or destination with popular tourist sites, ChatGPT seems pretty decent at cranking out a sample itinerary. It does help to put some parameters or constraints on you’re request, like “we’re staying at this hotel” or “I only have a day and a half”.
What doesn’t seem to work right now?
Continually refining your itinerary results seems to hit a bit of a wall. Sometimes ChatGPT “forgets” past results and you have to keep re-stating the same questions and parameters to keep it in line. Like, you said you needed to return to the airport by 5pm, and ask a follow-on question, then it gives you an itinerary that lasts into the late evening, and you have to remind it again about your 5pm timeframe.
Where would I like to see AI + travel planning go?
I’d basically like a “good-enough concierge” experience. Start with integrating booking capability, and maybe under a “freemium” model, get AI-generated itineraries including capability to book restaurants and tickets for sights/activities, but for an extra fee get an actual human to curate a more customized experience for you.
I recently had an exchange on X with a former AirBnB employee once the company announced such plans:
