Richard Turen
I am rested, refreshed and ready to resume sharing my thoughts on AI and its possible, likely and unpredictable impact on our professional lives.
You may have noticed some time has passed since I started talking about AI. That has less to do with my reticence in writing about this topic and more to do with my ongoing realization that vast portions of my files and notes from earlier this summer are already out of date.
We now have robots that can beat pros at pingpong and other robots that can perform operations involving the replacement of organs on test animals. We are in the midst of a major revolution that will make the internet revolution that began in the 1990s seem like a minor blip in terms of what technology, unleashed and funded by a small army of billionaires, can accomplish.
We are living in new times, and I want to spend some of our time together talking about the latest developments and the directions AI may be taking, specifically in travel and hospitality.
I do not intend to attempt this in essay form; I am not qualified to do that. But I would like to share observations on a wide range of AI developments and topics, all of which lead to the inevitable question: "Yes, but what has this really got to do with me and my interaction with my clients?"
The starting point for me is the surprising level of agreement about AI that I am hearing from industry friends and analysts. This seems to me to be the way the vast majority of us see AI and its future as of this moment:
"We were told the internet revolution would put us out of business, and we listened to that for several decades. But that is not what happened. We learned to work smarter and to use the internet to our advantage. It allowed us to survive and thrive because having an advisor who can make recommendations based on knowing the client is invaluable.
"Humans who can guide clients toward the best decisions will never be replaced. So we will adjust to AI, and we will learn to use it to our advantage in much the same way we handled the growth of the internet and the spread of accessible information."
That is the optimistic view, typical of the manner in which our industry weathers storms and adapts to client/guest expectations. I always believe that opinion writers should openly express their bias on major subjects they write about. So let me make it clear that I do not agree with the statement above. This is not the same as the development of the internet and the role it has played in our professional lives. This is very different. Let's look at why this is true:
The internet revolution brought some of the following changes to our industry:
- The consumer suddenly had newfound powers to help shape brands via online reviews.
- Travelers could book flights, hotels and tours online, cutting out brick-and-mortar agencies.
- OTAs thrived and became dominant industry players.
- Our industry had price transparency where our clients could compare prices instantly, which reduced the power of suppliers and agents.
So here we are in 2025, and we have the ability to look back and see that the internet did transform the way travel was sold. Access and control was shifting to the consumer. But there are still "experts" and "specialists" who help moderate and define the data our clients find online.
But what would happen if AI enabled a much more knowledgeable advisor to reside in the client's home? And what would happen if that travel advisor worked 24/7 and became a valued personal friend?
Topics for next time ...