Airbnb CEO says AI will transform the platform more than hotels in the short term

20-11-23

• Airbnb's CEO claims that the platform will take advantage of AI benefits over hotels in the short term.

• Brian Chesky claims that AI will improve the platform's customer service by enabling 24/7 support.

Multiple large companies in the industry already leverage tools like ChatGPT to offer travelers an increasingly personalized experience.

But the travel companies that will lead the way will be those with a technological DNA, according to Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb.

The entrepreneur believes his platform will reap the benefits of AI more than hotels, at least in the short term, Fox Business reports.

"Because we have a digital product, we can actually adapt and change faster," says Chesky, who believes that hotels will not be different in five years because of AI, as Airbnb will be.

Chesky assures that the technology will improve the platform's customer service, one of the big headaches the company faces due to the huge number of policies a customer service agent would have to deal with because of the different regulations in each city where Airbnb is present.

This does not mean that AI will replace the employees in charge of this task, Chesky assures, but it will help them to offer permanent assistance to users and allow them to focus on more personalized services. 

AI's big change, despite its limits

This is not the first time the Airbnb co-founder has spoken out about the power of AI in the industry. 

Chesky believes the technology will help further personalize the search process to help users find their ideal home and experience.

However, the executive is aware that AI still has a long way to go and believes that for the travel industry, ChatGPT may not be the solution, even if many of its features are useful.

"If you and I go to ChatGPT and ask it a question, we're probably going to get the same answer. And that will be because ChatGPT doesn't know our preferences. For many queries getting the same answer is great. But what if you ask, like, 'Hey, where should I go on vacation?' Well, it depends. Who are you? What do you want in your life? I think there has to be a layer of personalization in AI, and that's going to come from the data it has and the permission it gets from customers," he argues.

The entrepreneur revealed in that interview that Airbnb's vision is to one day become one of the most personalized AI layers on the internet: "We're going to try to understand you deeply, learn about you, care about you, and be able to understand your preferences."