Google’s Gemini, the company’s ChatGPT competitor, is gaining innovative AI-powered trip planning capabilities, which were announced at the I/O developer conference earlier this month. With a user’s prompt, Gemini’s AI model can now research publicly available information and specific details like flight times and hotel bookings to craft a custom, multiday vacation itinerary in seconds.
Trip planning is a well-established, everyday application of AI tools. If you ask Gemini to recommend a family-friendly vacation to your desired destination, it will meticulously organize an easy-to-follow plan replete with activities and dining options. However, according to the company, what sets the Gemini model apart is its ability to consider how plans unfold (or unravel) in the realms of space and time.
Sissie Hsiao, Google’s VP and general manager of Gemini, stated that manually planning a trip could consume hours, days, or weeks. However, with Gemini’s assistance, the process becomes nearly instantaneous and dynamic, allowing for tweaks and adjustments through prompts and requests, thanks to its new trip planning user interface.
Here’s a Breakdown of the AI-Powered Trip Planning Key Features:
- Personalized Itineraries: You can tell Gemini your preferences (family trip, adventurous getaway, etc.) and destination, and it will create a custom itinerary with activities, restaurants, and sights.
- Real-World Awareness: Unlike many AI travel tools, Gemini considers things like travel time and distance between locations when crafting your itinerary. This should help avoid logistically impossible plans to cram into a day.
- Integration with Existing Google Products: This is where things get interesting. Gemini can access your Gmail to find confirmation emails for flights and hotels and then use that information to build your itinerary around those bookings.
Google touts its AI model as offering a unique advantage by combining publicly available information with personal details in a user’s inbox. A sample prompt could be: “My family and I are going to Miami for Labor Day. My son loves art, and my husband really wants fresh seafood. Can you pull my flight and hotel info from Gmail and help me plan the weekend?”
Gemini would then build an itinerary based on flight and hotel details from the user’s email, utilizing Google Maps to find nearby restaurants and cultural destinations. It would also filter out choices based on specific prompts, such as dietary restrictions or things to avoid. Google plans to introduce these new trip-planning capabilities to Gemini Advanced in the coming months.
Nevertheless, there are a few caveats to consider. These advanced AI-powered trip planning features are part of Gemini Advanced, a subscription tier of the service that commands a $20 monthly fee. Additionally, while impressive, the system is not infallible, and there have been reports of occasional inaccuracies in its recommendations.