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Priceline app displayed on Apple iPhone.
Andrew Harrier | bloomberg | Getty Images
As new AI tools make their way beyond consumer chatbots and online searches, into a wide range of businesses, online travel is jumping on board.
reservationAnd Expedia And Airbnb It is among the travel companies looking for ways to streamline the booking process and help consumers make plans faster.
“Don’t know where you want to go? This tool will help you narrow that down very quickly,” Priceline CEO Brett Keller told CNBC.
Priceline, a unit of Booking.com, has revealed a new partnership with Google clouds. Google’s generative AI tools will allow potential travelers to communicate with a chatbot in a conversational manner when making plans and receiving personalized hotel reservations.
Keller said the AI will help customers make informed decisions about where and when to travel, as well as help his staff speed up response times.
“Today we employ thousands of people who answer customer inquiries,” Keller said. “Artificial intelligence will speed up an agent’s ability to provide actionable advice.”
If an agent is helping a customer make changes to a flight, Keeler said, all the different legs have complicated cancellation policies. Keller says the new technology can read this information very quickly and reduce waiting times. Google Cloud provides tools and capabilities to help Priceline collect and examine data that can then be used to assist customers.
The company’s Vertex AI technology will provide location-based information to users, who can ask questions like: “What’s a kid-friendly activity? I have two hours to spare,” said Carrie Tharp, vice president of industries at Google Cloud.
Tharp said that the data Priceline brings into a Google form will stay with Priceline, not with Google.
Earlier this year, Expedia was among the first players to indicate its investment in generative AI. The online travel company has launched its first ChatGPT-powered travel tool, and CEO Peter Kern told CNBC in April that it will make booking, canceling and modifying flights much easier.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told CNBC the following month that generative AI would make his company’s operations more efficient.
“In the next 12 months, you’re going to see big changes in our customer service — quality is getting better, costs are going to be lower,” he said.
He watches: Priceline CEO on the return of business travel
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