Generative AI and the travel industry: A panel of technology experts discuss the Continued from page 56


source, comprising 85% to 98% depending on the region. The rise in energy from low-carbon sources in the sector was “marginal”, comprising just 6% of travel’s consumption in 2019. The industry’s water use may


be just under 1% of the world’s total, but its water footprint increased by 21% between 2010 and 2019 and the report notes: “Travel and tourism’s share of national water use and water intensity tends to be higher in more highly stressed regions.” So, in 2019, 34% of the sector’s


water footprint was in countries suffering ‘high’ or ‘extremely high’ water stress, and 64% in countries of ‘medium to high’ stress. The report also models the


sector’s footprint for six types of air pollutant: the inhalable particulate matter categorised as PM2.5 and PM10, carbon monoxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), ammonia and nitrogen oxides (NOx). It notes the sector’s air


pollution footprint “mostly increased” between 2010 and 2019 and found 62% of the industry’s NOx pollution “falls in very highly exposed countries”, with travel responsible for 17% of NOx pollution in Europe in 2019. Finally, the report analyses


the sector’s material extraction, which increased by 64% between 2010 and 2019 “driven predominantly by demand for construction materials”, and it notes “a clearly unsustainable dependence” on fossil fuels. The authors note: “Continued


monitoring can help us better understand the sector’s footprint


and support efforts to reduce it.” i Access the report at: bit.ly/TTglobalfootprint


Experts tip AI to ‘change how we live and work’


Technology experts insist the huge excitement around generative artificial intelligence (AI) since the launch of ChatGPT 3.5 last November is justified despite the considerable hype. Deloitte director and digital and


analytics consultant Ellena Ronca- Thompson told the recent Travel Weekly Future of Travel Conference: “I’ve been working in data for 20 years and this was the first time that people wanted to talk about data.” She noted ChatGPT “is not


actually new technology” but argued: “Suddenly, we could all get our


hands dirty with it, without any need for special skills. You can use your own language and speak normally to start to experience how these technologies work. So suddenly everyone was talking about it.” Google industry head Jay Chauhan


agreed, saying: “This technology wasn’t accessible in the past. It’s now becoming accessible to everyone. It’s no longer in the data science teams. You don’t need an IT degree to run these models. It exists now for anyone to use the technology, to use natural language to query it and to set up projects. Anyone can do it.


“The other development is,


AI was around 10 years ago but more analytical and predictive. The big thing with ChatGPT is the breakthrough in large language models and in the computing power available to drive these.” He described AI as the “third big


shift” after the internet and mobile, or “a computer in our pocket”. Chauhan argued: “It’s going to change the way we live, the way we work and the way we experience life.” Ronca-Thompson said: “Certainly,


there is a lot of hype. But I’m excited at the potential for this to be in everybody’s hands. You no longer need to be a data scientist to understand deep patterns or make predictions. The possibilities are so vast, and in the power of everyone.” There remains controversy about


Panellists Jay Chauhan (left), Ellena Ronca-Thompson and Simon Powell


Generative AI ‘will aid marketing and customer service’


The business applications of generative AI will differ from consumer uses in important ways. Google’s Jay Chauhan


explained: “When applying this to a business, you’re going to be using an ‘enterprise’ version of AI, trained on your data and not any other


54 2 NOVEMBER 2023


data unless you want it to be. It’s in a walled garden, not being shared outside. It’s secure. You can play with different models, use different models for different use cases and ask, ‘How creative do I want it to be?’ “It’s safe in your environment.


That is very different to what we’re seeing in consumer and public use.” Chauhan advised: “Start with


whatever your business problem is, [such as] manual tasks that are taking ages, and how data can help. Then use the models to train against that data.”


whether generative AI is ‘intelligent’ or simply mimicking existing patterns and data. Chauhan argued: “It’s mimicking intelligence – learning from a dataset, picking out patterns and predicting what the next answer or proposition should be.”


He said the biggest areas of use


will be in “marketing, customer service and operational tasks”. Deloitte director and digital


and analytics consultant Ellena Ronca-Thompson suggested travel companies consider partnering with bigger businesses to develop generative AI uses, saying: “Attracting and retaining skilled people in technological fields is difficult. Having a partnership, working with people who understand the technology, makes it easier to retain the people you have.”


travelweekly.co.uk


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