The Year of AI in Travel: Understanding Practical Applications with AI Evangelist

As 2023 approaches, AI is becoming increasingly relevant in the travel industry. However, executives and decision-makers might not fully understand what AI is and how it can benefit their businesses. As a quantum computing evangelist, I want to help travel companies better understand the practical applications of AI for their industry. First, it's important to understand that AI isn't a monolith. There are different forms of AI, and each has varying practical applications. For example, generative AI programs like ChatGPT and DALL-E can create new, unique outputs based on specific prompts. However, these applications are still in the early developmental stages and may not be practical for airlines. Instead, supervised uses of AI are much more controlled and scalable. Using airline revenue management as an example, a supervised learning model can label historical outcomes for pricing as 'good' or 'bad' based on how given actions contributed to maximizing revenue. The AI can then assess new variables and suggest pricing modifications consistent with those 'good' decisions. Through thousands of inputs and repetitions of this action daily, it trains to do more of the good and less of the bad, becoming smarter over time. AI can also help optimize prices for flights, offer ancillary products, overbook, price cargo space, and deploy marketing dollars. AI is data-hungry, but the advantage is that it's highly scalable. If there is a pattern out there, AI can learn that pattern and recommend what action to take to maximize the 'reward' it's trained to seek. In essence, AI can analyze constantly shifting contexts in a way that's impossible for humans to do independently, providing pricing analysts with a depth of information that was not previously available. AI can help travel companies make more informed decisions that lead to maximizing revenue and improving overall business performance. As we move closer to 2023, the travel industry needs to understand the practical applications of AI. Supervised uses of AI are much more controlled and scalable than generative AI programs. By utilizing AI, travel companies can optimize prices, offer ancillary products, overbook, price cargo space, and deploy marketing dollars. AI is the future, and the companies that take the lead in implementing it will have technological and economic advantages over others for the next half century.