Tripadvisor is adding a "new AI-powered travel itinerary generator" to Trips, the US company's popular travel planning tool. — Photo: picture alliance/dpa
DUBLIN: Looking to get away from the pigeons and selfie-stick wielding tour groups in London's Trafalgar Square? Wondering about off-the-beaten-path sights to see in Rome? Thinking there must be more to Bali than the sun-reddened boozed-up Aussies thronging Kuta and the eat-pray-love windchimes crowd in Ubud?
Tripadvisor's Trips service has become a go-to for travellers who want to plan a holiday and map out an itinerary. But users could soon be getting their tips from artificial intelligence (AI), after the US company said it was adding a "new AI-powered travel itinerary generator" to Trips, which is available both as a browser version and as an app.
The OpenAI-based system "creates personalized travel itineraries" by processing "human insights from over a billion reviews and opinions of the more than eight million businesses listed on Tripadvisor," the company said.
After the traveller tells the AI travel agent his or her destination and travel dates, who they are travelling with and what activities they are into, the bot comes up with a "personalized, day-by-day itinerary" within seconds.
According to chief executive and president Matt Goldberg, such "harnessing the power of generative AI" would allow Tripadvisor to "begin to fully unlock the potential of our platform's unparalleled review and traveler intent data."
The AI addition is in beta testing and currently available only to US-based users, though Tripadvisor said it would be added in "more markets." – dpa
