How AI Is Making Family Vacations Easier Than Ever

Welcome back to ARC pdx. Artificial intelligence is a hot topic right now, especially its use in the classroom and in the workforce. But something that isn't as discussed is how AI is changing travel for families. So joining us this morning is Matt Britton, the author of Generation AI why Generation Alpha in the Age of AI Will Change Everything. And he's also the CEO of Suzy, a company that collects consumer research using AI. Matt, good morning. Thanks so much for joining us.

Thanks so much for having me.

Of course. Okay, so let's start with the first one. How can families use AI to plan their vacations?

Let's think about the way most families currently use the Internet to plan vacations. They'll go on Google, they'll make a search, they'll get a series of blue links, they'll go through a process of kind of going back and forth clicking on those links just to find what they're looking for. Well, now there's a much easier way. Using these new large language model tools like ChatGPT or Cloud or even Gemini by Google, you can be very specific in terms of the types of travel you're looking to engage in. If you want to have travel for a family of four and you're looking for somewhere with nice weather and you give it your budget stipulations, these AI tools will get back to you a very detailed itinerary in terms of what your options are, how much it costs, what other considerations are, and not only help you with travel, but actually help you plan experiences while you're there. It really is the new travel agent, except it works 247 and it never forgets your preferences.

Yeah, I actually have to say my, my boyfriend was just had a nine hour layover in Hong Kong and he used chatbots to fill up that time and he got to do really cool stuff in that nine hour amount of time that he wouldn't have known about and didn't have time to plan for.

I mean, memory is a big thing. So tools like ChatGPT more recently have started to implement memory. So it knows more about you as long as you opt into it. So in the case of your boyfriend, it probably knew the types of activities he was prone to engaging in and that will actually customize that outp just for his needs. It knows how old your kids are, it knows if you like hiking or you like, you know, some more maybe subtle activities and then based upon that, it'll give you those recommendations.

That is so cool. So are there certain apps or platforms that you recommend for families to use or Maybe any that they should avoid.

Yeah. So Chat CBT recently rolled out a new tool that's just starting to be used called Operator. And what Operator does is it doesn't only give you recommendations, but it will actually go out and actually book those recommendations for you. There's a tool called Perplexity that is starting to do the same thing. So those would be the two I'd recommend for travel, specifically Perplexity and Chat cbt. But over time it's going to replace the role of a travel agent because again, it's not only going to give you that hyper customized itinerary, but it's going to book the trip for you using the credit card you approve within your budget parameters. So we're entering a whole new world.

Oh my gosh, that's crazy. Okay, so what do you say to people watching who might feel a little apprehensive about using AI for this?

Well, I mean one of the biggest reasons for apprehension is privacy. But what most people don't realize is that when you you're putting a query into something like ChatGPT, it's no different than you using a cloud based service like Gmail for your email. It all uses encrypted cloud storage. So I think the concerns about privacy are quite overblown. And I guess I would say to the audience, just try it. You don't have to use its recommendations, but give it a try. First, go to ChatGPT and say how can I use you to help plan travel? What information do you need to know and talk to it like it's a person And I think you'll be blown away by the results.

Wow, cool. Okay, so should tell us. I want to talk about your book. Sorry, let's move on to your book. So tell us about your new book, Generation AI. Why Generation Alpha and the Age of AI will Change Everything.

Yeah, I mean just through the conversation we've just had shortly we've talked about how AI is going to redefine travel planning. And the reality is it doesn't stop there. AI is really going to redefine every corner of business, culture and society, whether it's education, the workforce, parenting, shopping, you know, you name it. So that's what I wrote about in my book, Generation AI How Gen Alpha, which are currently age 0 to 15, the first generation ever that's going to grow up with AI in the household. And this incredible new technological frontier is going to change everything we know about life. And that's what Generation AI is about.

And I think it's pretty common for older generations to like, place their hopes on the younger ones. So what makes Generation Alpha maybe special? And why do you say that, that they will change everything?

Well, the interesting thing about AI is for the first time ever, we can interact with technology much like the way we interact with other people. And if you think about a generation that's going to grow up knowing no other world but a world in which you can do that, their brains are going to be wired completely differently and intuitively they're going to be using these tools to advance society. Now obviously that's not coming without its drawbacks. There is obviously tons of valid concerns about the negative implications that AI is going to bring to society. But the reality is it almost doesn't matter because we're not going backwards. Every large corporation and soon every large education institution is going to be adopting this because it's just going to be the way the world operates moving forward. Want to future proof yourself? Become a more in touch parent, a more in touch employee in the workforce, or even a more in touch member of society. You really need to understand how to embrace the principles of AI. And that's what I tried to help people do with the book.

Yeah. This is such an interesting conversation. Matt Britton, thank you so much for joining us.

Thanks for having me.

Of course you can get Matt's book at all major booksellers right now. Generation AI. And we.