American Yenyi Fu used ChatGPT to plan a vacation to Costa Rica for her family of four.
“It was very easy to use,” says Fu, “at first glance it looked like a great itinerary.”
A travel consultant said Chat GPT’s proposals were not family-friendly and contained logistical errors.
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When Yenyi Fu asked popular AI chatbot ChatGPT to plan a 10-day vacation in Costa Rica for her family, she was initially blown away by the results.
“For someone who doesn’t know the destination well, it seems pretty amazing,” she told Business Insider.
Fu, head of product department at KimKim, a online travel agency, is no stranger to travel planning. But after showing the chatbot’s itinerary to a local travel consultant, she found that it contained several logistical errors and lacked the level of personalization that a family of four typically needs.
The software suggested spending two days in five different locations in Costa Rica: San Jose, Arenal Volcano National Park, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Manuel Antonio National Park, and Guanacaste Province.
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While there was nothing wrong with the locations themselves, Travel Advisor found Brittany McNamara immediately three problems with the plan.
“It’s too much for a family with young children to visit five places in ten days,” Fu said, adding that the travel expert recommended visiting three destinations at most.
Also, some people would advise against spending more than a day in the city of San Jose with young children, especially if you’re looking for a more natural vacation.
The biggest problem McNamara found, however, was that ending the trip in Guanacaste doesn’t necessarily make logistical sense due to the distance to Manuel Antonio and the airport.
With McNamara’s recommendations in mind, Fu Chat asked GPT to remove Guanacaste from the itinerary and come back with a revised plan. The chatbot then suggested going north to Arenal, then south to Manuel Antonio, and ending the journey back north in Monteverde.
While McNamara said this was a slight improvement over the original itinerary, she noted that she typically recommends starting in Arenal, then going to Monteverde and ending in Manuel Antonio to minimize travel time. She also said most families prefer to fill their trips with activities and end them on the beach to relax.
After the itinerary was decided, Fu Chat asked GPT to recommend some hotels for her family. The chatbot provided a list of high-end hotels that McNamara said “are not geared towards families or children.” In two instances, Chat GPT recommended adult-only hotels.
Artificial intelligence will not replace travel experts any time soon
The danger, Fu says, is that someone unfamiliar with Costa Rica might have followed the advice and might not have noticed the chatbot’s flaws until it was too late.
But despite the pitfalls, Fu said she really enjoyed using Chat GPT and it was “super easy to use,” especially when it came to asking clarifying questions.
She also pointed out that the chatbot doesn’t have access to real-time hotel prices or flights, and isn’t able to book a vacation for you like a travel agent would.
“I don’t think the chatbot alone will replace the work of travel consultants,” she said. “There’s no way to help with the logistics that a travel consultant is really helpful for — not just advice, but execution.”
Chat GPT seems to agree. When I asked the chatbot if he thought he was better than a travel consultant at vacation planning, his response was surprisingly candid.
“I have no personal travel experience, so I can’t offer first-hand recommendations or personal opinions,” the chatbot wrote. “While I can be a useful tool in gathering information and providing ideas for a trip, the expertise and personal experience of a travel consultant is invaluable in planning a truly customized and memorable vacation.”
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