Do you want to stay in a hotel in New York that is conveniently located near a vegan restaurant, a Christmas market, or another attraction?
Artificial intelligence developed by Google (GOOGL.O) might be implemented by Priceline as soon as this summer, according to statements made by both companies to Reuters.
According to Martin Brodbeck, Priceline’s chief technology officer, the online travel agency, which is a subsidiary of Booking Holdings (BKNG.O), intends to launch a more advanced chatbot for the purpose of trip planning, as well as hotel suggestions that are like “a personal concierge” suited to users. Both of these features will be available in the near future.
“When you’re actually booking your hotel, you can easily find out that in Bryant Park there is a Christmas market that runs from early November all the way through the beginning of January,” he added. “The market is open from early November all the way through the beginning of January.”
Priceline now has access to generative AI, such as the technology behind ChatGPT, which can draft content as if it were written by a human being, thanks to new resources made available by the cloud division of Google. In addition, the tools can extract information such as hotel pricing from previously collected data in order to guarantee their precision.
For a long time, Google has been a distant No. 3 provider of cloud services like data storage. Attracting business through AI is a potential opportunity for the company to bridge the gap with competitors Amazon (AMZN.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O), as it has been the case in the past.
Priceline may have an advantage over the numerous other platforms that promote travel alternatives because it has embraced cutting-edge technology on its website. Some of these other platforms are investigating how customers respond to artificial intelligence.
Its competitor Expedia Group (EXPE.O) declared that ChatGPT would be used to power chats on a mobile app. According to Rathi Murthy, the company’s chief technology officer, this provides tourists with “inspiration on places to go” as well as alternatives for arranging travel.
Expedia and Kayak, which is also a website that is owned by Booking Holdings, have both linked their travel recommendations by utilizing capabilities that are available in the independent ChatGPT program.
Brodbeck claimed that Google’s cloud capabilities were what led to the agreement, despite the fact that Google has long been a competitor to Priceline.
According to Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, recent business has been brought in as a result of the company’s pioneering work in the field of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
“There is a kind of a Cambrian moment happening now where there’s an explosion of this technology,” Kurian told Reuters, alluding to the astonishing period in prehistoric time when a vast variety of new species developed. “There is a kind of a Cambrian moment happening now where there’s an explosion of this technology.”
He refused to address the question regarding the impact that free corporate previews were having on the profitability of Google Cloud.
According to Brodbeck, Google’s artificial intelligence would be used at Priceline to provide code ideas for the company’s hundreds of software developers. Priceline is going to implement Google’s search capabilities within its internal employee networks. Additionally, Google’s AI will speed up marketing efforts for popular places.
“You could have it create images like a beautiful beach, and you could marry that with great generative-AI copy,” Brodbeck added. “You could also do both of those things.”
