Generative AI tools like ChatGPT revolutionize travel planning, offering personalized itineraries and recommendations. But are they ready to take over the role of traditional guides?Â
How Did Jason Brown Plan His AI-Driven Adventure?
When Jason Brown, the creator of People Movers, scheduled his family’s summer vacation to Amsterdam and Ireland, he did not depend on conventional tools like Instagram or travel guides. Rather, he went to ChatGPT, the generative artificial intelligence tool developed by OpenAI, to create a 10-day schedule for himself, his wife, two kids ages 20 and 16, and one of their friends.
Brown, who describes the experience as “fantastic,” adds, “In the past, I have always used sites such as TripAdvisor, but I realized I had all the knowledge at my fingertips [through AI], and it spits out in 15 seconds.”
ChatGPT created a four-day itinerary for other regions of Ireland and gave Dublin a thorough strategy with a golf schedule. “It was fantastic that it broke the trip into morning, afternoon, and evening,” Brown notes. On the first day, for instance, it advised coming in the morning, spending the afternoon at Trinity College and Grafton Street, and visiting Temple Bar in the evening.
ChatGPT highlighted must-see sights for Amsterdam, including the Jordaan area, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Anne Frank Museum. Brown kept honing his ideas with more questions for ChatGPT as the journey continued.
How Did Brown Combine AI with Human Recommendations?
Brown appreciated comments from actual humans even as he welcomed many of the AI recommendations. “I still depended on recommendations from an online community of people who attended the same college as me,” he says. A buddy in Amsterdam also took them about, offering an insider’s view of the city.
“That way, we encountered a few things we wouldn’t have found using ChatGPT,” Brown notes. But it encompasses everything you want to see and offers the ideal skeleton of a trip.
Is AI Becoming the Go-To Tool for Travel Planning?
Brown’s experience is not special. Travel planning is seeing rising demand for generative artificial intelligence solutions like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Copilot, and specialist travel AI apps like Trip Planner and Ask Layla. According to a Sainsbury’s Bank Travel Money survey, one in ten Britons have used artificial intelligence for travel planning; one in five will probably use it.
The poll also underlined the limits of artificial intelligence travel applications. More than a third (38%) of users said they received generic responses, 37% said they lacked information, and 30% said they came upon erroneous information.
How Reliable Is AI as a Source of Travel Information?
Although artificial intelligence may provide customized itineraries and suggestions, its success relies on the quality of the data it is taught. “The difficulty is guaranteeing accurate real-time information,” says a travel and tourism researcher. “There are risks if consumers do not engage due diligence to verify the results presented by Gen AI with other sources, including talking to people in the know, such as residents or travel agents.”
How Are Companies Addressing AI Accuracy Concerns?
Co-founder of Berlin-based AI trip planner Ask Layla, Sardar Bali, notes the accuracy requirement. “We have internal tools,” notes Bali. “All content passes a two-step verification process—one automated, another whereby our teams manually review and investigate material.” Still, sporadic mistakes do happen even with these protections. For instance, it formerly suggested a Beijing Eiffel Tower, which may have been categorized wrongly. But every day it is improving more and more.
Are AI-Powered Travel Services Expanding?
Major players are drawn to the possibilities AI presents for trip planning. Integrated inside the iPhone app, Expedia started an AI service named Romie for its US consumers earlier this year.
“A trip can involve sophisticated planning… there are gazillions of options,” says a senior vice president of analytics and AI at Expedia Group. Romie guides people in selecting a destination and contrasting sites. “If you want a beach theme, it can identify which are family-friendly or match British beach locations to Spain and France, for example.”
Can AI Get It Wrong?
29-year-old Liverpool freelance writer Rebecca Crowe also utilizes artificial intelligence to travel, although with considerable caution following many disappointments. She discovered artificial intelligence-generated plans needed more practicality during a vacation to Lecco, an Italian town near Lake Como.
“The experience was not very good,” she admits. “It included all the well-liked activities you might discover with a regular Google search, but the schedules made no sense. Given the train timings and boat schedules, it advised us to visit Milan in the morning and Bellagio in the afternoon, which wasn’t practical.
When Crowe looked for gluten-free eateries for a friend with a coeliac illness, she found further problems. “The results were just wrong in some cases and greatly out of current,” she notes. “I had to cross-reference every recommendation to check if the location was still open.”
Should Travelers Use AI as a Starting Point?
Crowe counsels visitors to rely more on artificial intelligence as a wide inspiration than on set manual guidance. “If you’re looking for a rough idea of things to do in a certain city, it’s a great jumping-off point,” she notes. However, the time necessary for fact-checking indicates it does not particularly save you over time.
Travelers like Brown and Crowe stress combining technology with human understanding to produce the greatest travel experiences, even as artificial intelligence keeps improving. Though they are fun, they function best as a foundation rather than a comprehensive solution for now; as AI technologies develop, they might become vital in trip planning.
