Should we let artificial intelligence guide us on our vacations?
Today in my mailbox my sister invites me to take the plunge for the next vacation in Sweden and sends me a link. On this article, which I hope is not written by an artificial intelligence…. Or simply part of a marketing operation to attract investment in conjunction with the international AI summit in Paris…. I learn that :
With just a few clicks, artificial intelligence can grant your wishes to organize your dream vacation and avoid the pitfalls that could spoil it. It’s even possible to ask for the impossible. If you ask for “a deserted beach on the Côte d’Azur”, you’ll instantly be presented with five less-frequented beaches and detailed itineraries for getting there. To organize a tailor-made vacation, you can add up almost infinite choice criteria, taking into account weather, accommodation, prices and more.
… Ah, the article is already finished. My fears may be justified…
Well, I’ve been working a bit with AI for the past year and understand its mechanism a little. I’ll say this.
The problem with AI is that since it has no opinion, it will try to compensate with statistics. That’s how I’m likely to find myself following in the footsteps of the hordes of tourists heading for the places you must visit at least once in your life. In Paris, you have to run to the Eiffel Tower, then on to the Sacré Coeur, Notre Dame and the Sainte Chapelle, all curiously holy places, without ever questioning the secular nature of the Republic. If you want to see greenery, you’ll have to make your pilgrimage to Fontainebleau, where it’s now impossible to commune with nature and hear a bird sing at the weekend. As a fan of underground tourism, I’m in for a rough ride.
In the absence of big data, the AIs of 2025 may be taken by hallucination, this time in the absence of data, algo-rhythms create coherences based on probabilities. It’s possible that it’ll lead me to look for an old drakkar lost at the end of a hike, which never existed.
You can always try, it can give ideas, especially if the questions are well asked and the information cross-checked, but it won’t replace the exchange of crushes, distinctive and specialized tourism, ephemeral events. There are a number of blogs that report on beautiful alternative routes. I’ve even found one that does a road trip in the West, our chosen destination. And there are some great guides to Gothenburg available on Amazon… if you can’t find them in Paris Librairie, independent bookshops or Parisian media libraries….
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