Helping people decide, without deciding for them.

When I helped my family plan a holiday, AI was useful for bringing the options together. It helped us explore destinations, compare ideas and work through some of the things we needed from the trip.

There were quite a few preferences to consider. Different people cared about different things, and the process involved balancing them against the budget. Having somewhere to start and being able to refine the options through a conversation made the research easier.

But choosing and booking the holiday remained a separate decision.

That distinction is useful when we think about where AI fits into travel. There are plenty of moments where people could benefit from help: making sense of a long list of hotels, comparing flight options, understanding what’s included or finding an experience that works for a group.

For an assistant to be useful, though, it needs to do more than produce a confident answer. It needs to show the information behind a recommendation and make it easy to check the details that matter. Is the price current? Does the room accommodate everyone? Are the cancellation terms right for this trip?

The level of control also needs to match the decision. I might be comfortable asking an assistant to narrow down a long list of options. I may want to review the final choice and terms myself before spending money or committing the family to a particular trip.

Over time, some customers may choose to let an agent do more on their behalf. That will depend on the experience earning their trust: understanding their preferences, acting within agreed limits and making it clear when a decision has been made.

For travel companies, the opportunity is to make the difficult parts of planning easier while giving customers a clear view of the choices in front of them. The better we do that, the more useful AI becomes in the moments where people need it.