How hybrid AI can bring our tourist places to Life

As a tourism professional I thought I knew every facet of our industry. However, the concept of Hybrid and Adaptive AI Systems has opened up a world of possibilities that has me both amazed and, I admit, a little overwhelmed. The scarce literature available today assure that these systems will make our destinations "breathe, learn, and adapt continuously". At first, these words seemed like mere technological rhetoric to me, but the more I reflect on them, the more I understand their profound meaning for our industry.

When we talk about a destination that "breathes", it comes to my imagination a place that's alive, that feels the pulse of its visitors and residents. It's not just about counting tourists, but about sensing the rhythm of the city, the subtle changes in movement patterns, the variations in people's sentiments. Could AI help us "feel" our destinations in a way that was never before possible?

?The concept of a destination that "learns" is really fascinating. Every interaction, every visit, every comment becomes a lesson for the system. It's not hard to see how this could revolutionize the way we manage tourism. Just Imagine a system that learns from every successful (or not so successful) tourist experience and uses that knowledge to continuously improve. If this sounds wow, just imagine the idea of "adapting continuously". In our industry, adaptability has always been a thing, but we generally react to changes after they occur, but what if we could adapt in real-time? If we could adjust our strategies on the spot, based on live data? Achieving this today might seem impossible as available literature, even though they don’t refer to tourism, affirms we would need AI systems that combine multiple approaches: deep learning, rule-based systems, and symbolic reasoning. Although the technical details are beyond me, I understand the general idea: we need an AI that can think in different ways, just like we do.

?

Deep learning, as it is defined, is like having an incredibly observant assistant who can detect patterns that escape the human eye. Rule-based systems, as I understand, would be similar to reminding us of our best practice manuals, but infinitely more complex and adaptable. And symbolic reasoning, well, that sounds like giving AI the ability to "think" more like us. What excites me is the idea that these systems would be capable of adapting in real-time to new data and situations. In the world of tourism, where every day, every visitor, every event is unique, this capability could be a completely new frontier.

?It's hard to imagine this in large scale today (even though there are some disruptive examples happening in 2024!), but in a not so far future we could see systems that can adjust tourist routes in real-time based not only on current congestion but on the prediction of future bottlenecks. Or that can adapt, for example, gastronomic recommendations not just according to the visitor's preferences, but also considering fluctuations in the supply of local ingredients.

?It might not seem hard to imagine, I at least still have many questions and concerns. How do we ensure that these systems respect the cultural authenticity of our destinations? How do we maintain the balance between technological efficiency and the human warmth that is the heart of hospitality? Despite these doubts, I can't help feeling optimistic. I see a future where our destinations are truly "alive", capable of offering richer, more sustainable, and more personalized experiences than ever before.

?As tourism professionals, we have the exciting task of being the guardians of this new world. We don't need to become AI experts, but we do need to be open to these new possibilities and ensure they are implemented in a way that benefits our visitors, our communities, and our destinations equally. The journey towards this future of living and intelligent destinations has already begun. And it promises to be the most fascinating adventure our industry has ever embarked upon. All aboard… the AI train!!

On my next article I will talk a bit about #CICERONE, iUrban Intelligent destination platform that is pioneering in integrating AI in destination management and how they're taking the first steps to become a hybrid and adaptative AI system!

#genAI #AIfortourism #AI #IA #GPT #GenerativeAI #AdaptativeAI