Expedia poised to take flight with generative AI

One
implementation
enables
users
to
search
the
web
for
travel
in
London
and
automatically
delivers
the
consumer
into
a
seamless
booking
experience
in
Expedia,
Murthy
says.

[…]

Expedia poised to take flight with generative AI

One
implementation
enables
users
to
search
the
web
for
travel
in
London
and
automatically
delivers
the
consumer
into
a
seamless
booking
experience
in
Expedia,
Murthy
says.
The
other
plug-in
resides
within
the
Expedia
application
and
enables
travelers
to
have
“conversation
capabilities”
about
all
aspects
of
trip
planning.
It
is
currently
available
on
iOS
devices
in
English.

“Marrying
ChatGPT
data
[such
as
questions
from
travelers]
with
Expedia’s
travel-specific
data
such
as
traveler
preferences,
booking
patterns,
and
pricing
availability
is
super
powerful,”
the
CTO
says,
adding
that
the
combination
of
technologies
can
create
a
full
itinerary
for
consumers.
“We’ve
seen
a
lot
of
traffic.
It’s
been
beautiful
in
terms
of
trip
planning.”

The
Expedia
team
was
able
to
deploy
the
plug-ins
within
three
to
four
weeks.
“This
is
really
because
we’re
so
mature
in
our
AI
capabilities
and
the
APIs
in
our
travel
platform,”
Murthy
says.

Others
are
speedily
incorporating
ChatGPT
and
GPT
APIs
into
their
services
and
applications,
including

CPG
multinational
Unilever

and

omnichannel
used-car
retailer
CarMax
.

But
analysts
suggest
such
early
implementations
of
generative
AI
have
a
way
to
go
before
delivering
meaningful
impact.

“At
this
early
stage,
the
ChatGPT
feature
within
Expedia’s
app
is
limited.
It
doesn’t
have
access
to
real-time
pricing
information
and
users
are
not
able
to
book
through
the
feature.
It
also
only
saves
hotel
recommendations
currently
into
the
trip
section
of
the
Expedia
app,”
says
Brad
Jashinsky,
director
analyst
in
the
Gartner
for
Marketers
practice.

Jashinsky
also
cautions
that
it
is
not
a
certainty
that
consumers
will
use
chat-powered
AI
systems
for
travel
in
concert
with
any
online
booking
system,
but
if
so,
“it
could
differentiate
Expedia’s
experience
from
other
online
travel
agencies.” 

IDC
analyst
Dorothy
Creamer
suggests
Expedia
is
in
good
position
for
the
AI
era
if
the
company
works
closely
with
partners.

“Expedia
is
building
out
its
data
platform
on
25
years
of
travel
and
booking
behavior
and
this
level
and
depth
of
data
is
vital
to
drive
a
more
personalized
booking
and
journey
experience
in
the
post-pandemic
era,”
Creamer
says,
noting
that
the
company
is
also
“building
a
deep
bench
of
data
scientists
to
help
mine
value
from
booking
data

these
data
points
require
evaluation
of
thousands
of
permutations
per
a
single
page
of
booking
information.”

Creamer
also
notes
that

Expedia’s
products
are
being
built

to
provide
hotels,
airlines,
car
rentals
agencies,
and
other
partners
with
the
building
blocks
to
process
deep
customer
insights
and
marry
that
with
actual
traveler
behavior.
“This
will
require
the
sophisticated
analysis
of
data
that
AI
and
ML-driven
functions
and
platforms
can
provide,”
she
says.

Still,
Expedia’s
Murthy
remains
fully
aware
of
the
ethical
concerns
surrounding
AI
and
wants
to
ensure
that
Expedia
is
a
fair
and
free
marketplace
for
all
users.

“We
are
keeping
a
very
close
eye
on
its
governance
and
ethics
and
making
sure
there’s
privacy
considerations
on
sharing
any
of
the
information,”
Murthy
says.
“That’s
something
all
of
us
have
to
watch
out
for
and
work
together
as
a
concrete
community
to
use
AI
for
good
and
make
sure
we
can
use
best
practices
across
the
industry.”

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