By Maya Aziz
For some, the mere mention of artificial intelligence conjures up dystopian images of human subservience to super-intelligent robots. For others, it represents a new technological age of humankind experiencing unimaginable prosperity. If you’re like me, the feeling of both fear and excitement for the future will linger in the back of your mind, but on a day-to-day basis, engagement with AI and its ability to make your life easier in unexpected ways will spark interest.
This brings me to Chat GPT-4 – the latest iteration of Open AI’s popular chatbot. Whilst previous models were able to answer questions in a somewhat human-like manner, they were unable to perform live data analytics, meaning that they could not check real-time data. This is still the case to an extent with GPT-4; I can’t ask it to check if my train is delayed or how much tickets to a concert this weekend will cost. What I can do, though, is ask it to plan my next holiday!
With GPT-4’s new Kayak plugin, the chatbot is able to perform live data analytics using the information on Kayak’s holiday booking platform. I should note here that, unlike previous versions of Chat GPT, this current model is not free, and will set you back £16.15 a month. Luckily for me I have a nerdy boyfriend, so here I find myself armed with his login details and the help of a super-intelligent chatbot, embarking on a mission to plan my next holiday.
My prompt was as follows: “Please plan a holiday for me and my boyfriend this December. We need to fly from either London or Manchester. Show me flights and hotels. Please include the price per person. We are students, so show me cheap deals. Thanks!”
In response, I was presented with a list of return flights in December for various destinations, coupled with dates and prices ranging from £41- £77. So far, so good. Upon closer examination, however, one issue did pop up. The flight options for two of the five destinations (Vienna and Copenhagen) would see me flying out on one day and returning the very next – not exactly screaming relaxing couples getaway.
Okay, so that rules out two options, but I still have three left. GPT-4 followed up by asking me which destinations I would like to see hotels for, so I responded with the remaining three: Madrid, Barcelona and Amsterdam. I was given a list of hotels for each destination, including the star rating, review score, top amenities and price per night (ranging from £51-£81) for each stay.
Based on the information given to me, my hypothetical holiday will be a trip to Barcelona for three nights in December, staying at a four-star hotel with a gym and a pool (although I’m not sure how necessary the pool will be in December.) The total cost for flights and hotels came to £153 per person.
So, how would I rate Chat GPT’s Kayak feature? It undoubtedly cut the time that it would have taken me to plan a trip and gave me a really cheap deal.I doubt I could have found a much better one myself. There were definitely things that were overlooked and effort is still required on my part, more so than if you used a travel agent or booked through a package holiday site.
When it comes down to it, though, one has to be realistic about the nature of the platform we are using. We take a lot of our expectations about things for granted. We know, for example, that nobody wants to fly out on Monday and return on Tuesday – GPT-4, apparently, does not (yet). Now, had I included this expectation in my prompt, it would have been a non-issue. Essentially, if you prompt it with exactly what you want, then chances are it will provide you with exactly that.
So, yes, using GPT-4 is by no-means an effortless way to plan a trip, but it is a great tool to use if you want to cut the time you spend sifting through data – that is, if you have £16.25 a month to spare.
