Ask around: AI agents are the Next Big Thing.
You can give them tasks via iMessage or WhatsApp, and they can search the internet or use software to complete them. It’s a bit like having a concierge or assistant who can book restaurants or reply to emails for you.
When I used one to plan a trip, I was underwhelmed to say the least. In fact, it had me questioning the point of travel. Is it to check another country off your list and follow a set itinerary, or to explore somewhere new and connect with different people?
I put two scenarios to the test: a business trip and a European city break. The agent was far more useful for the former, but it still slipped up with a pretty obvious mistake.
I live in London, and since Meta’s Muse isn’t yet available outside the US, I asked a colleague for an invite to use Instinct’s AI agent. I decided on a hypothetical three-night trip to Business Insider’s headquarters in New York. I would check a bag and avoid flying overnight (sleeping on an airplane is a tantalizing, if impossible, goal for me).
First, I picked the dates and planned the trip out myself. After half an hour on Google Flights and Booking.com — plus checking public transit costs and the company policy on meal expenses — I had a rudimentary document calculating a roughly $2,000 budget.
Instinct only took about 10 minutes to create a four-page doc replete with details. Each section included a paragraph explaining its reasoning, a brief schedule, and links to sources at the end.
However, the agent committed a basic error with the flights.
It suggested I fly from London to New York with Delta Air Lines, but return with British Airways to avoid a red-eye. It’s impossible to book these two airlines on the same ticket — the sort of thing that’s obvious when you’re researching flights yourself.
Instinct took six minutes to rectify the mistake and update the doc with a daytime return flight on Virgin Atlantic for about $130 extra. (Delta has a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, so flights with either airline can be booked through the other.)
So, in the end, our budgets were the same, but Instinct created a more thorough plan in half the time. It also probably could’ve figured out the flight issue itself if I had prompted it to actually book the trip.
I therefore had fairly high hopes when it came to planning a weekend vacation. Instead, it ended up feeling a bit pointless.
In this instance, the criteria were broader because I wanted to explore my options. I was in the mood to visit a European city with a top art gallery sometime in November, and maybe take a Eurostar train if the price was right.
It took me about 20 minutes to decide on Amsterdam, one of five direct Eurostar destinations from London, with a vast number of artworks at both the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum.
When I prompted Instinct, it ended up taking a lot longer than I expected. My enthusiasm waned. Visions of sunflowers and canals became distant memories as boredom took hold.
Perhaps I’m exaggerating slightly, but it still got me thinking: What is the point of handing this over to an AI agent if it flattens my excitement to travel?
Instinct replied after half an hour with a list of five cities and approximate budgets. It suggested I narrow its list down to two cities, then took another 23 minutes to come up with specific dates, hotels, and transport options.
During that time, ChatGPT gave me a similar list in three minutes. I also spent some more time exploring the cost of going to Vienna or Copenhagen.
Instinct’s most useful feature was giving it the measurements of my carry-on so it could account for extra fees charged by some airlines, saving me from having to investigate all the different terms. However, it suggested an Amsterdam hotel that I didn’t love the look of, with cramped, tacky rooms. Plus, its Eurostar pricing was about $30 more than what I found on the company’s website, which helpfully shows the cheapest options across a month.
Ultimately, giving an AI agent broad guidelines to suggest vacation ideas isn’t the best use of its capabilities. Although a chatbot was quicker, it still sucked away the fun of perusing different options and picturing what the ideal trip could look like.
Chatting to the agent via WhatsApp also felt a bit uncanny, as if it was trying to resemble a real conversation without the humanity. For example, the way it splits its points into different messages is like you might when texting a friend. I was a bit irritated when my phone pinged four times, including the agent changing its emoji reaction to a checkbox after completing the task.
Ultimately, I think it’s pretty nifty for planning travel that you’re not too bothered about, like a business trip that requires precise costs and a corporate budget. There’s still the caveat that, as with all AI tools, double-checking is imperative. If you’re looking for travel inspiration, though, chatbots are likely more useful.
Even if you’re pressed for time and racing to check another destination off your bucket list, isn’t it more thrilling to press the book button yourself?
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