Vacations and trips: How AI can help with planning

Vacations and excursions
How AI can help with planning

Time to travel! But where should you go on your summer vacation? Which flights and hotels are particularly cheap? And what should I take with me? Nowadays, artificial intelligence (AI) can also help with questions like these. Google recently released extensions for its AI chatbot Gemini, which can help with travel planning, for example, in Germany.

In the settings you can select which extensions can be used for requests to the AI. Gemini can include information from Google Maps, Google Hotels and Google Flights, among other things, for its answers. If you wish, you can also search your own Gmail account for relevant information. This makes it possible, for example, to have the AI ​​helper select days off for a trip with friends and then find suitable flights. And Gemini also has access to YouTube if the whole thing is activated.

How do I address the AI?

As with ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, users can easily exchange ideas with Gemini instead of searching for information using individual keywords. Users should write as naturally as possible and provide precise information in order to achieve the best results.

With a question like “How long does it take if I want to drive from Cologne to Milan?” You can quickly find out that more than eight hours should be planned for the journey alone. In a test, Gemini also directly displayed a map from Google Maps and a link where the suggested route could be checked. With follow-up questions, it was quickly clarified whether there were toll fees on the route and whether one had to be prepared for particularly high traffic volumes on certain days. For example, Gemini warned that August 15 in Italy is a holiday traditionally associated with family outings and vacations – and therefore the roads and highways around this day towards the coastal regions are usually particularly busy.

A whole trip planned?

The AI ​​can even help with inspiration for travel destinations. “What are popular destinations for a short trip to a European metropolis?” Gemini provided a whole series of suggestions for these and similar questions. In the test, cities such as the culturally and historically interesting Rome, the Austrian city of Mozart, Salzburg, and modern London were listed in response to this broad question.

London? Sounds good! But what can you experience there in June, for example? In this case, Gemini suggested, among other things, the “Taste of London Food Festival” as an exciting event, where visitors can enjoy all kinds of culinary delights from June 12th to 16th. Or how about the traditional “Trooping the Color” parade celebrating King Charles III’s birthday on June 15th. (75) is celebrated?

Okay, so off to London. With the appropriate instructions, a so-called prompt, the AI ​​then looks for flights and also provides suggestions for inexpensive overnight accommodations that weekend. In both cases, Gemini provided several tips with associated links, pointing out that the chatbot was not always correct and the relevant details should be double-checked.

When asked further, there was also some advice on what to consider for the short trip. The weather in London in June is mostly sunny and mild with an average temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius. As you would expect from the island, it could also rain. It was also pointed out, among other things, that a valid passport is required to enter the country and that although you can pay in euros in many restaurants and shops, the exchange rate to the British pound is often unfavorable here. Conveniently, Gemini also delivered directly a link to the Foreign Officewhich summarizes the most important current regulations and information about a trip to Great Britain.

The AI ​​also pointed out another thing that could actually be quickly forgotten. If you want to charge your smartphone at a local socket, you usually need an adapter, as a different type of socket is used in Great Britain than in Germany.

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