New “agent in your pocket” hardware launches at CES

The biggest news to come out in our absence is still quite fresh with Rabbit launching at CES last week. Rabbit is a physical hardware device loaded with what the team are called a a Large Action Model (LAM) so we have an exciting new acronym to contend with!

The way the LAM works, in the most simplistic terms, is that the ai has been trained to push buttons on websites and apps and pre-trained to learn the processes of some of our favourites like Spotify. As the user - you just talk to it, first by pushing and holding down a button like you would a walkie-talkie. The LAM then goes and fulfills your voice request by pushing whatever buttons need to be pushed to achieve the result. Their key insight is that all sites and apps have interfaces and their new tech is based around teaching the ai how you might push those buttons yourself.

It is however a whole new thing you need to carry around and if I understood correctly it works with your phone to operate (might not be true), so you need to carry both. Thats a fair amount of friction to adoption!

Of course they did a travel demo as part of their keynote - because everyone LOVES TRAVEL! So how did that go? Well….. the instruction was to book a trip to London that included flights, hotel and a rental car! This is where it started to go wrong for me. Have you ever been to London? Would you rent a car to see the sites there?!! Any decent human agent would probably have explained the situation rather than jumping into the booking straight away.

Unlike the rest of the demo, they didn’t actually show what the choices made were, instead the presenter just said “confirm, confirm, confirm” and that was it. They also didn’t mention which site or sites they were looking on to do this voice booking but we picked it up in a glimpse in the video presentation and it seemingly was just Expedia. Again, this doesn’t really mirror the normal approach of a trvel searcher. If I think I can just find everything I need at the best price always on Expedia - I can just search there but the complexity of travel starts with comparison shopping.for most real searches.

ai is being used to eradicate bed bugs in Paris before the Olympics

In one of the more left field niches I’ve come across, this article on the startup Spotta talks about how they are utilising ai tech to detect bed bugs.

Spotta have combined emerging tech to develp an internet-of-things (IOT) device which are fitted to beds and send reports to hotel or transport management. Apparently the tech can detect from the very first insect, which is importnat in containing an outbreak.

The founders of Spotta say that half a trillion with a T) dollars are lost annually because of pest infestations so there is a huge market in play here. The article says there is already a unicorn in this space, Semios from Canada. Global warming is creating opportunities for greater infestation outbreaks and the insects have built imunity to many different treatments that have been tried over the years, many chemical based and a lot now outlawed in Europe, presumably because they are also harmful to humans.

I was happy to see the article mention that bed bugs are nothing to do with cleanliness, they are just bad luck as they hop from one person’s luggage to the next reaxt room where they can await their next feast. In 2021 I had a friend come and sleep over at my place who inadvertantly brought some unwelcome little strangers into the house. It took me weeks to discover I was being munched each night and they are extremely good at hiding. I woke one night to see my bed head literally moving from the swarm. The path to rid myself of them meant throwing away the entire bed and mattress plus sleep on the couch for 2 months whilst keep the room sealed off plus hitting it with steam mops and eucalyptus oil every couple of days. I’m still pretty scarred from the ordeal.

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Geni-us looks to solve accessability with ai

Dubai based startup Travel Genius have launched their Geni-us platform looking to solve issues for those with accessibility needs.

According to the article “Geni-us has meticulously mapped every street, beach, park, building, activity, restaurant, toilet, train station, and more, profiling them for travellers with varying levels of ability. This comprehensive database ensures that they can confidently and stress-freely plan their trips, knowing that their specific accessibility requirements are met.Geni-us has meticulously mapped every street, beach, park, building, activity, restaurant, toilet, train station, and more, profiling them for travellers with varying levels of ability. This comprehensive database ensures that they can confidently and stress-freely plan their trips, knowing that their specific accessibility requirements are met.”

Yet another example of niching down to find solutiions for the previously under-served. More of this please.

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Holiday Extras helps users understand their insurance policy with ai

Hands up who reads all the fine detail of their insurane policy? Anyone? Buelller?Thought so.

Holiday Extras also has honed in on this insight that whilst people are keen to know what they are, and more importantly aren’t covered for in a policy, they don’t necessarily want to get down in the 5pt font to do so.

Its new AI Insurance Explainer tool named SYD (Search Your Documents) uses artificial intelligence technology that allows customers to find specific details quickly and simply within their insurance documents and check what their package covers.”

The tool is available to all Holiday Extras customers and can be found on its app as standard after booking.

ai is unleashing a fake review tsunami

This article from TNMT spells out a dire warning about fake reviews quickly spiralling and ovrwhelming our trust systems.

According to Originality.AI, an AI text detection startup, there has been a fourfold increase in the use of AI in Amazon reviews in 2023 compared to 2022.

This amounts to 8% of all reviews being AI-generated last year, marking a staggering 20-fold increase from the (mostly) pre-GPT era in 2020.

The article goes into some detail about not only how it is happening but also explores some ideas on how to fix it. Well worth a read for anyone who relies on reviews….. which is everyone.

Meanwhile in China….

This recent article by the Guardian isn’t travel related but is fascinating none the less around how different cultures are navigating ai and in particular the areas which are being focused on.

In China, where live streaming is one of the core effective sales tactics, this is where the effort has gone.

My favourite part of the piece was this revelation: “New digital employees can not only answer customers’ questions but also gauge if they are smiling, knowing when to keep their answers short. One such digital avatar was named employee of the year at a Chinese real estate developer.”

How will travel operators in China (or elsewhere) look to make advantage of these specific advancements in information delivery - a core part of the travel delivery expeirence.

A view of the future

A great article this week by Mario Gavira from Kiwi, if you need a one page catch up of what the future might look like for travel once the “agent” approach takes hold.

Reading it made me think about the fabled “connected trip”. For sure many of our travellers will be having the “connected trip” experience this coming North Hemishpere summer - but I think sadly for the brands trying to make that connection solely with them - we might just jump the shark on that idea.

More money comes for ai powered air travel improvements

A new €2 million research project to develop Artificial Intelligence system to improve air travel efficiency has been approved.

Through machine learning, mathematical modelling and optimisation techniques, experts hope to reduce passenger delays, unlock shorter routes, lower emissions and alleviate the workloads of air traffic controllers by making the dynamic airspace configuration process automated and more flexible

Most clicked last week was the to the podcast episode with Christian Watts

That’s it - you’ve made it to the end of this edition. I’ll be putting the result of the most clicked post in next week’s edition so you can see where others are focussing. If I’ve missed something, you’ve got a tip or any feedback at all - you can simply reply to this email and it will come straight to me. I’m doing this for You so please don’t be shy to tell me what you think