Google Takes Next Step in AI Trip Planning

15.05.2024 - 01:35 / skift.com / Justin Dawes

Google is diving head first into AI-powered trip planning. 

Gemini Advanced, the paid version of the Gemini generative AI chatbot, will soon be able to build travel itineraries with a simple prompt in easy-to-understand language.

It’s also strengthening trip-planning options for AI Overviews, the AI feature it released this year for a traditional Google search. AI Overviews has been available only to U.S. users that opt in, but it’s being released to all U.S. users this week and more countries soon.

The search giant revealed the plans on Tuesday at its annual developer conference, Google I/O. Or, as Google CEO Sundar Pichai called it: “Google’s version of The Eras Tour with fewer costume changes.”

To try early versions of these new tools, opt in to AI experiments with Google Search Labs.

Skift will perform its own tests of the updated tools as soon as they are available.

Sissie Hsiao, vice president of Google and general manager for Gemini experiences, used a travel example to illustrate how the chatbot is taking a step closer toward the goal of being a “true AI assistant.” 

The example started with a prompt: “My family and I are going to Miami for Labor Day. My son loves art and my husband really wants fresh seafood. Can you pull my flight and hotel information from Gmail and help me plan the weekend?”

In the background, the AI creates potential travel options from multiple sources of information. “The result is a personalized vacation plan,” Hsiao said. 

Looking at the flight itinerary, the AI knows it needs to create a plan within the length of the trip and allow time before and after each flight. 

The flight in the example lands at 4:28 p.m., so the AI doesn’t recommend a big activity but rather three fresh seafood restaurants for 7:30 p.m. It estimates a 20-minute drive from the airport, an hour to drop off bags and freshen up, and 15 minutes to walk to dinner. 

The next day is full of proposed activities. Make an adjustment, such as changing the start time, and the AI automatically repopulates its plan. 

The trip-planning capability is coming to Gemini Advanced this summer.

Google released Gemini Advanced in February with its most up-to-date AI model at the time. The platform is now getting an upgrade with Google’s latest AI model, Gemini 1.5 Pro, available in 35 languages.

Google showed how users can get upgraded tourism recommendations through the traditional search bar.

The upgraded tech is better at answering multi-faceted questions, said Liz Reid, vice president of Search, during the conference. 

A prompt that Google used as an example: “What are good options for a day out in Dallas with the kids? Recommend some ice cream shops near each option.”

The first option was the Dallas Zoo, and it