Generative AI in Travel and Hospitality
A couple of weeks ago, I was very excited to deliver the keynote address on Generative AI at the 2nd Annual Entertainment, Sports & Media Travel Summit in London, hosted by Business Travel News. My role was to answer the key questions for everyone in the room, and indeed many others at the moment; what is Generative AI, how is it different to other types of AI, what is it good at and how should I start to use it.
It was great to speak with a really engaged audience in the entertainment travel industry, where Gen AI is already having an impact, particularly in the film industry. As we discussed in the room, perhaps the biggest use cases for Gen AI in travel and logistics are for document management, customer service management and marketing content creation. More traditional AI approaches can help with customer segmentation and targeting, to then find the right audiences for marketing. I think this fusion of AI approaches – generative and non-generative – is the key for future success; whilst there is rightly a lot of excitement about Gen AI at the moment, it will work best alongside other data-driven approaches, to provide better context, as well as managing risks and creating more effective outcomes.
Just as interesting as the insight into opportunities and potential use cases, though, was the audience’s understanding of some of the risks of Gen AI. Perhaps the risks of hallucinating Gen AI tools are well understood or at least well publicised, but the energy and water impact of data and Gen AI, somewhat putting the travel sector in the shade, was perhaps one of the surprises for the audience.
Several of the organisations represented in the room were already using or exploring Gen AI within their business functions (we estimated that around 40%), but by no means all. By the end of the session, many in the audience recognised there is clearly an opportunity in 2024 to start to use all types of AI, whether “generative” or otherwise, to drive future value.
If you would like to see the slides for the event, please click this link. I would be happy to discuss how these use cases could impact your business, whether in the travel industry or in other sectors.