It’s hard to believe it’s only been about a year since travelers started jumping on the itineraries created by ChatGPT. This year will bring even more experimentation and innovation. “AI is like a teenage intern,” said Chad Burt, co-owner of the travel advisor network. External agents“better, smarter, faster than you, but you have to lead them. »
The growing use of AI could influence how we book online, what happens when flights are canceled or delayed, and even how much we pay for tickets.
“In 2024, we will see a new generation of intelligent travel agents leveraging chatbots,” he said. Oren Etzioni, professor emeritus of computer science at the University of Washington. That means travelers will start interacting with sites like Airbnb, Expedia and Priceline by typing questions in addition to checking boxes to search for lodging, restaurants and amenities like swimming pools.
AI will also power what happens behind the scenes at airlines and airports, said Gilbert Ott, director of partnerships at Dot.me, which helps travelers find flights to purchase with rewards points. For example, it could improve automatic rebooking on new flights when customers miss connections or the weather snarls. tracks. At United Airlines, for example, smarter software can offer rebooking options and issue dining and lodging vouchers when a flight is canceled, rather than simply rebooking a flight.
On the ground, AI software will be able to inform more human-made decisions, such as how to most efficiently reposition baggage carts and staff in response to tight connections or train delays. flight.
Finally, AI systems trained on larger, more up-to-date data sets will allow airlines’ dynamic ticket pricing algorithms to better use data like weather forecasts and customer searches to charge as much as they can do so while continuing to fill their packages. At the same time, companies like online travel agency Hopperwhich claims to use 70 trillion data points in its price prediction model, continues to solve the problem on the other side, in a sort of AI-powered arms race between airlines and customers.
