Exploring the human connection in travel in the era of AI
To what extent do we leverage AI in our products? Join me as I explore this boundary between travel tech and the human connection.
Years ago
A friend of mine recently sent me a photo from our 4-week Interrail trip when we were 17-18 years old. We were such puppies back then, but puppies without a fear in the world.
No internet, no Airbnb, no smartphones, travel apps, bank cards, or ATM machines. Instead, we had Thomas Cook Traveler's Cheques, calling cards, rolls of film, a European train schedule, and a Lonely Planet guide.
Most importantly, we had no fixed plan and a sea of time. We learned about new places from other Interrailers, negotiated for rooms at train stations, and joined locals to find out what was fun at night. We didn’t call or contact home for weeks, and our parents weren't worried.
FF to today
As we built our travel app, Map Your City, I always wanted to capture that spirit of exploration. Looking at a map and deciding on the spot what seems fun, capturing the essence of connecting with others and learning from them what’s worth a visit.
It is convenient to get updates from the places and communities you follow. Even receiving personal recommendations tailored specifically to you can be beneficial.
But to what extent do we leverage AI to choose convenience over exploration and spontaneous connections? To what extent do we sacrifice privacy and our right to travel off the grid and immerse ourselves in a foreign culture without AI algorithms deciding what we should see next?
These are questions we haven’t fully answered yet, but I am a strong advocate for serendipity, chance, and connection. And most of all, exploring.
So how should we move forward and adapt in the era of AI?
Tomorrow
There are many ways AI is currently already leveraged in the travel industry. This article describes five areas where AI has had and will increasingly have an impact.
Obviously nobody can look into the near future and predict what the world will look like in 10 years. But if you are a founder or working in product development, having a roadmap for your future travel product (or any product) is essential.
Generative AI will undoubtedly have a greater impact than it does today. But to what extent? What changes do we expect to influence our travel product?
The Speculative Futures method (a method for thinking about future events) will help us conceptualize realities by which our product can be affected.
From there, we can think through directions for our product development using the Futures Wheel tool.
This tool helps us explore in more detail the specific future scenarios and map out their (first, second and third order) consequences. This way we get a better grip on and plan for potential impacts on our software product. What do we want to enable? What do we want to stay away from?
By using both methods, we can better anticipate and meet the evolving needs of our users, creating a product and service that are not only innovative and future-proof but also deeply aligned with human values.
At the same time, we can keep the deep-rooted desire for the ultimate travel exploration alive.
Resources
This article describes five areas where AI has had and will increasingly have a great impact in the travel industry. The references and examples are also well worth reading.
As we (and you) try to further proof our product for tomorrow you might want to dive into this resource too: Google has a great library for human centred AI design with a wealth of resources to use for free.
Find out more about this topic in more detail in this article on the ANDRS business website.
We also just uploaded our latest deep dive conversation about Envisioning AI’s impact on your product in ANDRS Startup Deep Dive Podcast on Youtube.
Let me know your thoughts on how far you'd like AI to convenience you in your travel adventures? Or let me know to what extent you are implementing AI into your (travel) tech? DM me or comment on the post to keep the conversation going.