The Future of AI in Experiences with Google's Emmanuel Marot

In this episode of The Voice of Experiences podcast, Stephen Joyce and Janelle Visser discuss the topic of AI in the travel industry. They review an interview with Emmanuel Marot, the Director of Product Management at Google, and explore the role of AI in trip planning and personalized recommendations. They also discuss the challenges of ranking and organizing information in the fragmented world of tours and activities. Overall, the conversation highlights the potential of AI to enhance the travel experience and provide more relevant and personalized recommendations. During the conversation, the speakers discussed the use of Gemini, Google's AI-powered search tool, for trip planning. They explored how Gemini makes decisions and recommendations, including the use of structured and unstructured data. They also discussed the role of personalization and the future of search and trip planning tools. The speakers addressed the question of whether sponsored results are factored into Gemini and the potential for payment as a ranking factor. They also touched on the challenges of confabulation and hallucinations in AI models.

Key Takeaways:

• AI is becoming increasingly important in the travel industry, with a focus on trip planning and personalized recommendations.
• The challenge in the tours and activities sector is the fragmentation and diversity of options, making it difficult for consumers to choose.
• AI models can help in better understanding user queries and organizing information to provide more relevant and relatable recommendations.
• The goal is to personalize the travel experience and provide recommendations based on individual preferences and context.
• While AI can simplify the decision-making process, it's important to balance it with diverse opinions and options.
• The use of AI in the travel industry is still evolving, and there is ongoing research and development to improve the capabilities and user experience. Gemini allows Google to understand what people are saying inside the text itself, enabling better recommendations based on user preferences.
• Gemini considers a variety of factors, including popularity, reviews, and blog posts, to make decisions and recommendations.
• The future of search and trip planning is moving towards more personalized and conversational experiences.
• The ranking of websites in search results is influenced by factors such as information value and authority, but sponsored results are not directly factored into Gemini.
• AI models like Gemini have the ability to understand photos and make judgments based on visual content.
• The use of AI in trip planning tools is becoming more prevalent, with companies like Google and Microsoft launching their own tools.
• Confabulation and hallucinations can occur in AI models, but efforts are made to ground the information and prevent inaccurate or nonexistent recommendations.

You can find out more about and connect with Emmanuel here:

• ⁠Emmanuel Marot

You can find out more about the research that we mention in the episode here:

• ⁠⁠⁠2024 Experiences Traveller Outlook⁠⁠⁠ - The 2024 U.S. Experiences Traveler Outlook report delves into the state of the U.S. experiences traveler – who they are, what they want, what are they looking for in 2024 – and some key trends shaping the tours, activities and attractions sector for the coming year. 

• ⁠⁠⁠2024 US Tour Taker⁠⁠⁠ - The second report from the 2024 U.S. Experiences Traveler study delves into the state o